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Piriformospora indica colonization increases the growth, development, and herbivory resistance of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.)

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Abstract

Key message

Piriformospora indica symbiosis promoted the growth and photosynthesis, and simultaneously enhanced the resistance against insect herbivory by regulating sporamin-dependent defense in sweet potato.

Abstract

Piriformospora indica (P. indica), a versatile endophytic fungus, promotes the growth and confers resistance against multiple stresses by root colonization in plant hosts. In this study, the effects of P. indica colonization on the growth, physiological change, and herbivore resistance of leaf-vegetable sweet potato cultivar were investigated. P. indica symbiosis significantly improved the biomass in both above- and under-ground parts of sweet potato plants. In comparison with the non-colonized plants, the content of photosynthetic pigments and the efficiency of photosynthesis were increased in P. indica-colonized sweet potato plants. Further investigation showed that the activity of catalase was enhanced in both leaves and roots of sweet potato plants after colonization, but ascorbate peroxidase, peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase were not enhanced. Furthermore, the interaction between P. indica and sweet potato plants also showed the biological function in jasmonic acid (JA)-mediated defense. The plants colonized by P. indica had greatly increased JA accumulation and defense gene expressions, including IbNAC1, IbbHLH3, IbpreproHypSys, and sporamin, leading to elevated trypsin inhibitory activity, which was consistent with a reduced Spodoptera litura performance when larvae fed on the leaves of P. indica-colonized sweet potato plants. The root symbiosis of P. indica is helpful for the plant promoting growth and development and has a strong function as resistance inducers against herbivore attack in sweet potato cultivation by regulating sporamin-dependent defense.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

APX:

Ascorbate peroxidase

Car:

Carotenoids

Chl:

Chlorophyll

CAT:

Catalase

ETR:

Relative electron transport rate

P. indica:

Piriformospora indica

JA:

Jasmonic acid

SA:

Salicylic acid

SOD:

Superoxide dismutase

TPI:

Trypsin inhibitor

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Acknowledgements

We really thank Prof. Dr. Ralf Oelmüller (Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena) for providing P. indica, Dr. Si-xin Qiu and Dr. Yong-xiang Qiu (Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences) for providing sweet potato Fucaishu 18.

Funding

This research was funded by the Fujian Provincial Department of Science and Technology, China (Grant 2017NZ0002-2, 2018N0069 and 2020N0048).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sanming Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Sanming, Fujian, China

    Qing Li, Yun-Wei Kuo, Caisheng Deng & Shi-Peng Chen

  2. Faculty of Applied Sciences, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

    Kuan-Hung Lin

  3. Fujian Seed General Station, Fuzhou, Fujian, China

    Weiqun Huang

  4. Institute of Plant Biology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Kai-Wun Yeh

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  1. Qing Li
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Contributions

QL and S-PC conceived and designed the research. QL, Y-WK, K-HL, and WH performed the experiments. QL and CD analyzed the data. K-WY and S-PC wrote the manuscript. All authors have read and agreed to the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Shi-Peng Chen.

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Li, Q., Kuo, YW., Lin, KH. et al. Piriformospora indica colonization increases the growth, development, and herbivory resistance of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.). Plant Cell Rep 40, 339–350 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-020-02636-7

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