Skip to main content
Log in

Plant growth enhancement is not a conserved feature in the Caulobacter genus

  • Regular Article
  • Published:
Plant and Soil Aims and scope Submit manuscript

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.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

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

References

Download references

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.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Louis Berrios.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: Stéphane Compant.

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(DOCX 528 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

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

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04472-w

Keywords

Navigation