Abstract
Aims
Species within the Caulobacter genus have been termed ‘hub species’ in the plant microbiome. To understand these interactions, we assessed the interactions between several Caulobacter strains and a common host plant.
Methods
We identified a set of 11 Caulobacter strains that range in genetic diversity and tested them for their ability to increase the growth of Arabidopsis thaliana. In addition, biochemical assays were employed to determine if these Caulobacter strains produce common plant growth promoting (PGP) biosynthates. To identify potential PGP-related genes, genomic analyses were performed to compare the genomes of PGP Caulobacter strains to those of non-PGP Caulobacter strains.
Results
For the PGP Caulobacter strains, we observed that common PGP biosynthates did not contribute to the observed Caulobacter-mediated plant growth stimulation. Genomic analyses suggested that the genomes of PGP strains maintain similar metabolic pathways compared to those of non-PGP strains, and that common genes related to PGP factors do not explain the PGP mechanisms for the Caulobacter strains we analyzed.
Conclusions
Plant growth enhancement is not a conserved feature in the Caulobacter genus, and some Caulobacter strains even inhibit plant growth. Moreover, common PGP factors do not fully explain Caulobacter-mediated plant growth enhancement.
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Abbreviations
- PGP:
-
Plant growth promoting
- PGPB:
-
Plant growth promoting bacteria
- diH2O:
-
Deionized water
- PYE:
-
Peptone yeast extract
- AMP:
-
Ampicillin
- WGS:
-
Whole-genome sequence
- IAA:
-
Indole-3- acetic acid
- ACC:
-
1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate
- IH:
-
Inflorescence height
- BRD:
-
Basal rosette diameter
- PW:
-
Plant weight
- SQ:
-
Silique quantity
- PFs:
-
Protein families
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Acknowledgements
We thank Bill Cotham for his assistance with data collection regarding HPLC results and thank Maegan Albert, Sarah Brand and Quill Thomas for their help with processing plants. We also thank Sarah Brand for her expertise regarding graphic design. Additionally, we thank John Nomellini, John Smit, and Sean Crosson for providing us with C. mirabilis FWC38.
Funding
This work was funded in part by National Institutes of Health Grant GM076277 to BE.
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Berrios, L., Ely, B. Plant growth enhancement is not a conserved feature in the Caulobacter genus. Plant Soil 449, 81–95 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04472-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04472-w