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Root-associated fungi of Arabidopsis thaliana and Microthlaspi perfoliatum

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Abstract

Root-associated fungi, with the focus on endophytic species, were isolated from healthy Arabidopsis thaliana and Microthlaspi perfoliatum plants collected at different locations in Germany. A large number of fungal taxa were discovered with a small-scale approach. This provides additional evidence that root-associated and endophytic fungi are common in Brassicaceae. The most prevalent genera associated with A. thaliana roots were Trichoderma and Fusarium, while the roots of M. perfoliatum were dominated by different species of Fusarium and Penicillium. Differences in species composition and richness might be due to preferences and life-cycle of the two plant species. Strains of endophyte species that did not have closely related species in GenBank searches and those already known as root endophytes were chosen for preliminary co-cultivation experiments using germinating host plants on agar medium to observe effects on plant growth and health. Under these conditions several fungal isolates had an adverse effect on plant growth and health, especially on Arabidopsis thaliana. Some isolates did not adversely affect biomass during initial plant growth, while they altered the shoot-root ratio in favour of the shoot, especially in Microthlaspi perfoliatum. These strains are promising candidates for future research on endophytes as they might have some effects in Brassicaceae that are similar to mycorrhizal fungi. They are also promising candidates for investigating interactions with their host plants.

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Acknowledgments

This study has been funded by the LOEWE program of the government of Hesse in the framework of the Integrative Fungal Research Cluster (IPF) and the Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F). We are grateful for the constructive criticism of the reviewers, which helped to improve this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Institute of Ecology, Evolution and Diversity, Goethe University, Siesmayerstr. 70, 60323, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Jessica Keim, Bagdevi Mishra, Rahul Sharma & Marco Thines

  2. Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Jessica Keim, Bagdevi Mishra, Rahul Sharma, Sebastian Ploch & Marco Thines

  3. Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Bagdevi Mishra, Rahul Sharma, Sebastian Ploch & Marco Thines

  4. Integrative Fungal Research Cluster (IPF), Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Rahul Sharma & Marco Thines

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  1. Jessica Keim
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13225_2014_289_MOESM1_ESM.png

Figures S1–S14. Phylogenetic trees for the different fungal orders and Pythium inferred using Maximum Likelihood. Strains from Microthlaspi perfoliatum are highlighted in green, those from Arabidopsis thaliana are highlighted in yellow. Numbers at branches denote bootstrap support from 1000 bootstrap replicates. Fig. S1 Capnopodiales, Fig. S2. Diaportales, Fig. S3. Eurotiales, Fig. S4. Glomerellales, Fig. S5. Helotiales, Fig. S6. Hypocreales, Fig. S7. Microascales, Fig. S8. Mortierellales, Fig. S9. Mucorales, Fig. S10. Phyllochorales, Fig. S11. Pleosporales, Fig. S12. Pythium, Fig. S13. Sordariales, Fig. S14. Xylariales. (TRE 0 kb) (PNG 542 kb)

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Figure S15

Microthlaspi perfoliatum roots colonized by different fungal species. a Primary rootinfected with Pyrenochaeta sp. with intracellular hyphae (arrows). Overlay of bright field-image and fluorescence image. Scale bar: 50 μm. b Loose hyphal network around a primary root infected by Colletotrichum aff. destructivum. Fluorescence image. Scale bar: 100 μm. c Dense network of subepidermal and intercellular hyphae (arrows) of Pyrenochaeta sp.near the root apex. Fluorescence image. Scale bar: 50 μm. d Hyphal mantle and sporulation (arrows) of Ilyonectria radicicola agg.on the surface of a primary root. Fluorescence image. Scale bar: 100 μm. e Bright-field image of D. Scale bar: 100 μm. f Superficial sporulation by Hypocreales sp. 1 near the root apex. Fluorescence image. Scale bar: 5 μm. (JPEG 929 kb)

Figure S16

Fluorescence microscopy images of Arabidopsis thaliana roots colonized by different fungal species. a Primary root with superficial hyphae and sporulation (arrows) by Cladosporium cladosporioides aggregate. Scale bar: 50 μm. b Spores of Fusarium aff. tricinctum on root hair (arrow). Scale bar: 10 μm. c Subepidermal hyphal structures of Microdochium bolleyi in primary root (arrow). Scale bar: 20 μm. d Superficial hyphae of Microdochium bolleyi on primary root (arrows). Scale bar: 50 μm. (JPEG 442 kb)

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Keim, J., Mishra, B., Sharma, R. et al. Root-associated fungi of Arabidopsis thaliana and Microthlaspi perfoliatum . Fungal Diversity 66, 99–111 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13225-014-0289-2

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