Mutualistic Fungal Endophyte Colletotrichum tofieldiae Ct0861 Colonizes and Increases Growth and Yield of Maize and Tomato Plants

Abstract

Facing rising global food demand in a sustainable way is a great challenge of modern agriculture. Thus, the increase of crop productivity and resilience in an adverse climate scenario is urgently needed. Fungal endophytes have been described as potential biological tools to improve plant yield and tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses; however, their application in agriculture needs further research. The fungal endophyte Colletotrichum tofieldiae strain Ct0861 establishes a mutualistic interaction with Arabidopsis thaliana, promoting plant growth and silique production at low phosphate conditions. Until now, its ability to colonize and confer benefits to other plant species remained unexplored. Here, we show that Ct0861 colonizes and promotes growth in vitro of maize (Zea mays L.) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) seedlings, resulting in significantly larger shoot length and weight. Greenhouse and field experiments in optimal nutritional conditions showed an increase between 12% and 22% of yield in both tomato and maize. The inoculated plants were not suffering from phosphate starvation, which points at different modes of action not elucidated yet. These results indicate that the beneficial effect of Ct0861 may extend to other plant species of economic importance, making Ct0861 a potentially valuable inoculant.

Long-term maize-Desmodium intercropping shifts structure and composition of soil microbiome with stronger impact on fungal communities

“…Presence of these taxa may indicate higher carbon sequestration in intercropping plots that is enhanced by the perennial intercropping system (Cong et al 2015). Other enriched fungi genera likely confer more distinct ecosystem services, such as forming mycorrhizal (Ravnskov et al 2006;) and endophytic associations with plant roots that promote plant growth activities through increased nutrient supply (Díaz-González et al 2020;Macías-Rubalcava et al 2008;Munasinghe et al 2017). The fungi may also directly or indirectly stimulate production of beneficial secondary metabolites and protection against pathogens and insect pests (Hiruma et al 2016;Zin and Badaluddin 2020).…”

The good, the bad, and the phosphate: regulation of beneficial and detrimental plant–microbe interactions by the plant phosphate status

“…Plant growth promotion by C . tofieldiae was also observed in tomato and maize, although the mechanism of growth promotion remained unclear (Díaz‐González et al ., 2020). Further, the question remains how non‐Brassicaceae plants that should be devoid of IG biosynthetic enzymes are capable of maintaining a beneficial relationship with C .…”

Endophytic fungi as direct plant growth promoters for sustainable agricultural production

“…Colletotrichum tofieldiae is an endophytic fungus of A. thaliana that has been widely studied as a promoter of plant growth through an increase in the plant content of P in deficiency situations (Hiruma et al 2016). Its application in crops such as tomato or maize has reported a significant promotion of plant growth and yield, although it cannot yet be confirmed that the same mechanisms described in A. thaliana are involved (Díaz-González et al, 2020).…”