Monodehydroascorbate reductase 2 and dehydroascorbate reductase 5 are crucial for a mutualistic interaction between Piriformospora indica and Arabidopsis

Oxidative stress induced expression of monodehydroascorbate reductase gene in Eleusine coracana

“…As exposure to drought induces the over-production of various ROS (O 2 − and H 2 O 2 ), an increased pool of ascorbate is require for their detoxification which could be maintained by increasing mdar gene expression. An increase in the level of mdar transcript under cold stress has been reported in winter wheat by Baek and Skinner (2003), and in Arabidopsis by Vadassery et al (2009).…”

Reactive oxygen species generation and signaling in plants

“…This is consistent with the observations that ROS production by plants infected with beneficial microbes is low and antioxidant enzyme activities high. 126,127 Although ROS have been mainly associated with pathogen attack, ROS are also detected in other biotic interactions including beneficial symbiotic interactions with bacteria or mycorrhiza, suggesting that ROS production is a common feature of different biotic interactions. 128 ROS might have different functions during various steps of the beneficial symbiosis, however it is generally excepted that ROS accumulates during early phases of the interaction when the beneficial symbiosis is not yet stable and declines thereafter.…”

Functions of Novel Symbiotic Fungus - Piriformospora Indica

“…MDAR2 and DHAR5 was observed in the roots and shoots of colonized Arabidopsis seedlings exposed to drought [28]. Plant growth and seed production were not affected in the fungal colonized mdar2 and dhar5 mutants indicating that MDAR2 and DHAR5 are essential for maintaining sufficient ascorbate levels required for a balanced mutualistic state [28]. Thus indicating that P. indica confers drought tolerance to Arabidopsis by priming the aerial parts of the plant for an early and increased expression of drought tolerance-related genes [21,28].…”

“…Up-regulation of the 2 ascorbate reductase genes viz. MDAR2 and DHAR5 was observed in the roots and shoots of colonized Arabidopsis seedlings exposed to drought [28]. Plant growth and seed production were not affected in the fungal colonized mdar2 and dhar5 mutants indicating that MDAR2 and DHAR5 are essential for maintaining sufficient ascorbate levels required for a balanced mutualistic state [28].…”

“…indica efficiently confers plants with tolerance to abiotic stresses like drought tolerance in Arabidopsis and Chinese cabbage [21,28,31]. Fungal colonized Arabidopsis plants exposed to drought, showed increased drought tolerance with continuous growth while the growth was inhibited in untreated controls [21,28].…”