Pattern-triggered immunity restricts host colonization by endophytic fusaria, but does not affect endophyte-mediated resistance.

Fusarium oxysporum (Fo) is best known as a host-specific vascular pathogen causing major crop losses. Most Fo strains, however, are root endophytes potentially conferring endophyte-mediated resistance (EMR). EMR is a mechanistically poorly understood root-specific induced resistance response induced by endophytic or nonhost pathogenic Fo strains. Like other types of induced immunity, such as systemic acquired resistance or induced systemic resistance, EMR has been proposed to rely on the activation of the pattern-triggered immunity (PTI) system of the plant. PTI is activated upon recognition of conserved microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) of invading microbes. Here, we investigated the role of PTI in controlling host colonization by Fo endophytes and their ability to induce EMR to the tomato pathogen Fo f. sp. lycopersici (Fol). Transgenic tomato and Arabidopsis plants expressing the Fo effector gene Avr2 are hypersusceptible to bacterial and fungal infection. Here we show that these plants are PTI-compromised and are nonresponsive to bacterial- (flg22) and fungal- (chitosan) MAMPs. We challenged the PTI-compromised tomato mutants with the EMR-conferring Fo endophyte Fo47, the nonhost pathogen Fom (a melon pathogen), and with Fol. Compared to wild-type plants, Avr2-tomato plants became hypercolonized by Fo47 and Fom. Surprisingly, however, EMR towards Fol, induced by either Fo47 or Fom, was unaffected in these plants. These data show that EMR-based disease resistance is independent from the conventional defence pathways triggered by PTI, but that PTI is involved in restricting host colonization by nonpathogenic Fo isolates.

Endophytic Bacillus spp. produce antifungal lipopeptides and induce host defence gene expression in maize.

Endophytes are mutualistic symbionts within healthy plant tissues. In this study we isolated Bacillus spp. from seeds of several varieties of maize. Bacillus amyloliquifaciens or Bacillus subtilis were found to be present in all maize varieties examined in this study. To determine whether bacteria may produce antifungal compounds, generally lipopeptides in Bacillus spp., bacterial cultures were screened for production of lipopeptides. Lipopeptides were extracted by acid precipitation from liquid cultures of Bacillus spp. Lipopeptide extracts from Bacillus spp. isolated from Indian popcorn and yellow dent corn showed inhibitory activity against Fusarium moniliforme at 500µg per disk. Using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry we detected the presence of antifungal iturin A, fengycin and bacillomycin in these isolates. PCR amplification also showed the presence of genes for iturin A and fengycin. B. subtilis (SG_JW.03) isolated from Indian popcorn showed strong inhibition of Arabidopsis seed mycoflora and enhanced seedling growth. We tested for the induction of defence gene expression in the host plant after treatment of plants with B. subtilis (SG_JW.03) and its lipopeptide extract using RT-qPCR. Roots of Indian popcorn seedlings treated with a suspension of B. subtilis (SG_JW.03) showed the induction of pathogenesis-related genes, including PR-1 and PR-4, which relate to plant defence against fungal pathogens. The lipopeptide extract alone did not increase the expression of these pathogenesis-related genes. Based on our study of maize endophytes, we hypothesize that, bacterial endophytes that naturally occur in many maize varieties may function to protect hosts by secreting antifungal lipopeptides that inhibit pathogens as well as inducing the up-regulation of pathogenesis-related genes of host plants (systemic acquired resistance).

Resistance to Dutch elm disease reduces presence of xylem endophytic fungi in Elms (Ulmus spp.).

Efforts to introduce pathogen resistance into landscape tree species by breeding may have unintended consequences for fungal diversity. To address this issue, we compared the frequency and diversity of endophytic fungi and defensive phenolic metabolites in elm (Ulmus spp.) trees with genotypes known to differ in resistance to Dutch elm disease. Our results indicate that resistant U. minor and U. pumila genotypes exhibit a lower frequency and diversity of fungal endophytes in the xylem than susceptible U. minor genotypes. However, resistant and susceptible genotypes showed a similar frequency and diversity of endophytes in the leaves and bark. The resistant and susceptible genotypes could be discriminated on the basis of the phenolic profile of the xylem, but not on basis of phenolics in the leaves or bark. As the Dutch elm disease pathogen develops within xylem tissues, the defensive chemistry of resistant elm genotypes thus appears to be one of the factors that may limit colonization by both the pathogen and endophytes. We discuss a potential trade-off between the benefits of breeding resistance into tree species, versus concomitant losses of fungal endophytes and the ecosystem services they provide.

Living inside plants: bacterial endophytes.

As current research activities have focused on symbiotic or parasitic plant-microbe interactions, other types of associations between plants and microorganisms are often overlooked. Endophytic bacteria colonize inner host tissues, sometimes in high numbers, without damaging the host or eliciting strong defense responses. Unlike endosymbionts they are not residing in living plant cells or surrounded by a membrane compartment. The molecular basis of endophytic interactions is still not well understood. Several traits involved in the establishment of endophytes have been elucidated. Culture-independent methods for community analysis and functional genomic as well as comparative genomic analyses will provide a better understanding of community dynamics, signaling, and functions in endophyte-plant associations.