Carbon translocation from a plant to an insect-pathogenic endophytic fungus
نویسندگان
چکیده
Metarhizium robertsii is a common soil fungus that occupies a specialized ecological niche as an endophyte and an insect pathogen. Previously, we showed that the endophytic capability and insect pathogenicity of Metarhizium are coupled to provide an active method of insect-derived nitrogen transfer to a host plant via fungal mycelia. We speculated that in exchange for this insect-derived nitrogen, the plant would provide photosynthate to the fungus. By using 13CO2, we show the incorporation of 13C into photosynthate and the subsequent translocation of 13C into fungal-specific carbohydrates (trehalose and chitin) in the root/endophyte complex. We determined the amount of 13C present in root-associated fungal biomass over a 21-day period by extracting fungal carbohydrates and analysing their composition using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. These findings are evidence that the host plant is providing photosynthate to the fungus, likely in exchange for insect-derived nitrogen in a tripartite, and symbiotic, interaction.
منابع مشابه
Nutrient transfer to plants by phylogenetically diverse fungi suggests convergent evolutionary strategies in rhizospheric symbionts
Most land plants are able to form symbiotic associations with fungi, and in many cases these associations are necessary for plant and fungal survival. These plant/fungal associations are formed with mycorrhizal (arbuscular mycorrhizal or ectomycorrhizal) or endophytic fungi, fungi from distinct phylogenetic lineages. While it has been shown that mycorrhizal fungi are able to transfer nutrients ...
متن کاملHost-to-Pathogen Gene Transfer Facilitated Infection of Insects by a Pathogenic Fungus
Metarhizium robertsii is a plant root colonizing fungus that is also an insect pathogen. Its entomopathogenicity is a characteristic that was acquired during evolution from a plant endophyte ancestor. This transition provides a novel perspective on how new functional mechanisms important for host switching and virulence have evolved. From a random T-DNA insertion library, we obtained a pathogen...
متن کاملEndophytic fungus, Radulidium subulatum from Phragmites australis in Iran
In order to isolate and identify endophytic fungi of Phragmites australis, numerous samplings were conducted from the plants grown in the southern areas of the Caspian Sea in Guilan, Mazandaran and Golestan provinces and saline soils around the Lake Urmia at province of East Azarbaijan. Twenty-one isolates of the genus Radulidium were obtained from healthy tissues of P. au...
متن کاملInsects as a Nitrogen Source for Plants
Many plants have evolved adaptations in order to survive in low nitrogen environments. One of the best-known adaptations is that of plant symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria; this is the major route by which nitrogen is incorporated into plant biomass. A portion of this plant-associated nitrogen is then lost to insects through herbivory, and insects represent a nitrogen reservoir that is ge...
متن کاملSeptoria malagutii as an endophytic fungus of Achillea millefolium from Iran
------ ------ ------
متن کامل