What do we know from the transcriptomic studies investigating the interactions between plants and plant growth-promoting bacteria?

Abstract

Major crops such as corn, wheat, and rice can benefit from interactions with various plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB). Naturally, several studies have investigated the primary mechanisms by which these PGPB promote plant growth. These mechanisms involve biological nitrogen fixation, phytohormone synthesis, protection against biotic and abiotic stresses, etc. Decades of genetic and biochemical studies in the legume-rhizobia symbiosis and arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis have identified a few key plant and microbial signals regulating these symbioses. Furthermore, genetic studies in legumes have identified the host genetic pathways controlling these symbioses. But, the same depth of information does not exist for the interactions between host plants and PGPB. For instance, our knowledge of the host genes and the pathways involved in these interactions is very poor. However, some transcriptomic studies have investigated the regulation of gene expression in host plants during these interactions in recent years. In this review, we discuss some of the major findings from these studies and discuss what lies ahead. Identifying the genetic pathway(s) regulating these plant-PGPB interactions will be important as we explore ways to improve crop production sustainably.

Azospirillum brasilense improves rice growth under salt stress by regulating the expression of key genes involved in salt stress response, abscisic acid signaling, and nutrient transport, among others

“…Past reports have suggested the possible involvement of flavonoids during the rice-A. brasilense interaction (Thomas et al, 2019;Mukherjee, 2022;Wiggins et al, 2022). In this study, we identified several genes from the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway differentially expressed in rice roots upon A. brasilense treatment.…”

“…For instance, defense-and stress-related genes are differentially expressed in plants when exposed to salt stress (Kumar et al, 2013;Zhang et al, 2017;Ma et al, 2022). Interestingly, multiple studies have reported that host plants suppress the expression of some of their defense-related genes during beneficial plant-microbe interactions (Soto et al, 2009;Toth and Stacey, 2015;Thomas et al, 2019;Mukherjee, 2022;Wiggins et al, 2022). For instance, during rice-A.…”

Nuclear Genome Sequence and Gene Expression of an Intracellular Fungal Endophyte Stimulating the Growth of Cranberry Plants

“…In most studies examining the nature of symbiont genes, the expression of which is altered by the plant host, microbes are cultivated in the presence of plant extract prior to sequencing their transcriptome [ 81 , 82 , 83 ]. To simulate the microbe-plant interaction more realistically, we cultivated EC4 in the presence (and absence) of the roots from a live cranberry seedling (for the experimental set-up, see Figure 1 ).…”

Salinity stress endurance of the plants with the aid of bacterial genes

“…Metagenomic studies of bacterial communities provide the basic evidence of plants-bacteria interaction whichcan bepractical to be used in identifying novel species with special traits ( Fadiji et al, 2022 ; Mukherjee, 2022 ). Multiple metagenomic analyses have been carried out for investigating the genes related to plant growth-promoting traits of bacterial community from soil samples of oil field at Wietze ( Eze et al, 2021 ), from maize rhizosphere in the South Africa ( Molefe et al, 2021 ), associated with the root of sugar beet ( Tsurumaru et al, 2015 ), and the endophytes of Emilia sonchifolia (Linn.)…”