Antioxidant enzymes in chickpea colonized by Piriformospora indica participate in defense against the pathogen Botrytis cinerea

Abstract

Piriformospora indica, a root endophytic fungus, promotes growth of the economically important chickpea plant (Cicer arietinum Linn.) and protects it against the pathogenic fungus Botrytis cinerea. Biomass and root development were found to be significantly improved in chickpea plants colonized with P. indica as compared to the plants grown without P. indica as well as from the plants infected with the B. cinerea. Our PCR analyses showed that gradual increase in the colonization of P. indica in the plants result in the inhibition of the colonization of B. cinerea. P. indica colonized plants showed increased antioxidant enzyme activities. Interestingly, there were pronounced decrease in the antioxidant enzyme activities in shoots infected with B. cinerea and colonized with P. indica in alternate and simultaneous mode as compared to plants infected with B. cinerea alone. We conclude that P. indica helps plants to overcome the disease load by enhancing antioxidant enzyme defense system. Our data suggest that, bio-protective action of P. indica might be mediated via systemic induction of antioxidant defense in the host plants.

Functional Characterization of a Magnesium Transporter of Root Endophytic Fungus Piriformospora indica

“…Endophytic association of P. indica has shown as beneficial tool for the host plant to survive under abiotic and biotic stresses (Trivedi et al, 2013; Jogawat et al, 2016; Narayan et al, 2017). Additionally, P. indica can grow axenically, can colonized dicots, monocots and other medicinal plants which cannot be colonized by the AMF, therefore this fungus has been termed as plant probiotic (Aschheim et al, 2005).…”

“…Unlike arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), P. indica can be cultured axenically and now a stable transformation system is available to know the gene functions in this fungus (Pham et al, 2008; Yadav et al, 2010). Further, P. indica has numerous beneficial effects on their host plant and help them to develop resistance against biotic as well as abiotic stresses (Waller et al, 2005; Baltruschat et al, 2008; Sherameti et al, 2008; Kumar et al, 2009; Vadassery et al, 2009; Sun et al, 2010; Yadav et al, 2010; Jogawat et al, 2013; Narayan et al, 2017).…”

Role of Phytohormones in Piriformospora indica-Induced Growth Promotion and Stress Tolerance in Plants: More Questions Than Answers

“…Overexpression of the melatonin biosynthetic genes elevates melatonin levels and enhanced tolerance to abiotic stresses ( Zhang et al, 2012 ). More importantly, the antioxidant system is one of the targets of melatonin in plants stress tolerance, and preliminary data suggest that the melatonin targets are similar to those of root-colonizing microorganisms including P. indica ( Rodriguez et al, 2010 ; Narayan et al, 2017 ). Though melatonin distinguishes from a classic hormone such as its direct, non-receptor-mediated free radical scavenging activity, it could cross talk with stress or toher hormones, like IAA, ABA, JA, SA, and ET ( Zhang N. et al, 2015 ).…”

Isolation and Characterization of Plant Growth-Promoting Endophytic Fungi from the Roots of Dendrobium moniliforme

“…Evidence of the indole compound, dibutyl phthalate, essential oils, and phenolic compound suggest that these compounds are required for the establishment of microbial associations with the roots of the host plant. Eicosanes may have antimicrobial and antifungal activities [25,26,27,28,29,30]. Compounds that were identified from R11 and R13 strains had the most significant effects on plant growth and development.…”