Distinct endophytes are used by diverse plants for adaptation to karst regions

Abstract

The present study aimed at systematically investigating the endophytic communities of dominant plants in the karst ecosystem. Soil and plant materials were collected and after sequencing of the 16 s RNA, the diversity and abundance of the endophytic community structures in leaves were examined. Our results showed that abundant and diverse endogenous bacteria were associated with the leaves of common dominant plants living in the karst ecological environment. Notably, common traits and significant differences in the endophytic community structures were recorded among different plant species with different leaf grown in soils with different calcium contents. These observations implied that plants may adopt different strategies to adapt to the karst ecological environment. In addition, the endophytic bacteria associated with the leaves may be involved in different physiological strategies used by the plants to adapt to the karst ecological environment. These findings provide new avenues for developing microbial agents that could be suitable for the karst ecological environment and will provide sustainable solutions for improving the ability of plants to adapt to karst special adversities, and thus for karst geomorphological environmental protection and agricultural development.

The plant endosphere world – bacterial life within plants

“…Although there is already some indication that endophytic bacteria actively sense the plant environment and adjust their behavior in response to changing conditions and plant signals, we still are at the very beginning to understand the interplay between plants and endophytes on a molecular level. Given the growing evidence, that the composition of endophytic communities may influence plant phenotypic traits (Li et al ., 2019a), obtaining comprehensive understanding of the selective forces in the plant environment and the mechanisms of adaptation to this environment by endophytes and endophytic communities may open new avenues to optimize plant productivity and performance via modulating the endophytic communities.…”

“…Rapid adaptation of endophytes may be a pre‐requisite for the plant holobiont to better adapt to stress conditions. Many studies have shown that plants growing in unfavorable conditions like hot, drought, saline, and heavy metal contaminated environments can develop different adaptation capacities to stresses, which is partially due to their associated microorganisms (Vandenkoornhuyse et al ., 2015; Li et al ., 2019a). As discussed above, endophytes need to show a number of characteristics to colonize plants internally such as motility and chemotaxis functions or degradation of reactive oxygen species.…”

Features of Bacterial Microbiota in the Wild Habitat of Pulsatilla tongkangensis, the Endangered “Long-Sepal Donggang Pasque-Flower Plant,” Endemic to Karst Topography of Korea

“…Soils of the cultivated areas were slightly acidic (approximately pH 6.7), and the magnesium and sodium content were higher than that of the wild areas. Li et al (2018 , 2019) suggested that the calcium content in karst regions is a major factor for endophytic bacterial community composition, which in turn helps the plants to adapt to the environment. Soil properties, such as pH, carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, available phosphorous, and potassium also determine the root microbial community directly or via plant growth ( Lauber et al, 2009 ; Bulgarelli et al, 2012 ).…”

“…The properties of soil also affected the root morphology and root exudation ( Neumann et al, 2014 ), which are crucial factors for surrounding bacterial community. The changes of plant physiology modulated the endophytes and soil biological activities ( Jones et al, 2009 ; Li et al, 2018 , 2019 ). Therefore, properties of the calcareous soil might restrict the growth of sensitive plants and can also influence the composition of distinctive bacterial microbiota that may contribute to the adaptation of DPF plants to the karst ecological environment.…”

Simple methods to remove microbes from leaf surfaces

“…endophyte, leaf surface sterilization, Pinus contorta, Populus fremontii, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) Plant endophytes are described as microorganisms living inside plant tissues without deteriorating their hosts' health [1][2][3]. In recent years, studies of plant-endophyte interactions have gained considerable attention due to the potential contributions of these interactions to improve plant health [4][5][6][7][8][9]. However, several methodological obstacles arise when studying endophytes, including the complete removal of leaf surface microorganisms (i.e., leaf epiphytes).…”