Plant responses to variable timing of aboveground clipping and belowground herbivory depend on plant age

Aims Plants use different types of responses such as tolerance and induced defense to mitigate the effects of herbivores.The direc-tion and magnitude of both these plant responses can vary with plant age.However,most studies have focused on aboveground herbivory,whereas important feeding occurs belowground.Here,we tested the hypothesis that plant tolerance and defense following shoot damage or root herbivory depends on plant age.Methods In order to test our hypothesis,we exposed the perennial grass spe-cies Holcus lanatus to defoliation and root nematode inoculation at three growth stages(young,intermediate and old plants),and exam-ined responses of plant traits related to tolerance(regrowth follow-ing defoliation)and defense(leaf and root nitrogen and phenolics).Important Findings Defoliation overall reduced plant shoot and root biomass as well as foliar concentrations of phenolics regardless of plant age at defoli-ation.In contrast,defoliation increased foliar N concentrations,but only when defoliation occurred at intermediate and old plant age.Inoculation with root-feeding nematodes reduced root N concentra-tions after a prolonged period of growth,but only when nematodes had been inoculated when plants were young.The relative shoot re-growth rate of plants increased immediately after defoliation but this was independent of the plant age at which defoliation occurred,i.e.was not stronger in plants that were defoliated at a more advanced age,as hypothesized.Similarly,relative root growth rates increased shortly after defoliation,but this was only observed for plants defoli-ated when they were young.We conclude that plant responses to aboveground and belowground herbivory in traits related to both defense and tolerance are affected by plant age,but do not gener-ally change with plant age.

Systemic RNAi of V-ATPase subunit B causes molting defect and developmental abnormalities in Periplaneta fuliginosa

The vacuolar (H+)-ATPases (V-ATPases) are ATP-driven proton pumps with multiple functions in many organisms. In this study, we performed structural and functional analysis of vha55 gene that encodes V-ATPase subunit B in the smokybrown cockroach Periplaneta fuliginosa (Blattodea). We observed a high homology score of the deduced amino acid sequences between 10 species in seven orders. RNAi of the vha55 gene in R fuliginosa caused nymphal/nymphal molting defects with incomplete shedding of old cuticles, growth inhibition, as well as bent and wrinkled cuticles of thoraxes and abdominal segments. Since growth inhibition caused by vha55 RNAi did not interfere in the commencement of cockroach molting, molting timing and body growth might be controlled by independent mechanism. Our study suggested V-ATPases might be a good candidate molecule for evolutionary and developmental studies of insect molting.

Database and primer selections affect nematode community composition under different vegetations of Changbai Mountain

High-throughput sequencing technology is increasingly used in the study of nematode biodiversity.However,the annotation difference of commonly used primers and reference databases on nematode community is still unclear.We compared two pairs of primers(3NDf/C_1132rmod,NF1F/18Sr2bR)and three databases(NT_V20200604,SILVA138/18s Eukaryota and PR2_v4.5 databases)on the determination of nematode community from four different vegetation types in Changbai Mountain,including mixed broadleaf-conifer forest,dark coniferous forest,betula ermanii Cham and alpine tundra.Our results showed that the selection of different primers and databases influenced the annotation of nematode taxa,but the diversity of nematode community showed consistent pattern among different vegetation types.Our findings emphasize that it is necessary to select appropriate primer and database according to the target taxonomic level.The difference in primers will affect the result of nematode taxa at different classification levels,so sequencing analysis cannot be used for comparison with studies using different primers.In terms of annotation effect in this study,3NDf/C_1132rmod primers with NT_v20200604 database could provide more information than other combinations at the genus or species levels.

Effects of plant-soil feedback on tree seedling growth under arid conditions

Plants are able to influence their growing environment by changing biotic and abiotic soil conditions.These soil conditions in turn can influence plant growth conditions,which is called plant–soil feedback.Plant–soil feedback is known to be operative in a wide variety of ecosystems ranging from temperate grasslands to tropical rain forests.However,little is known about how it operates in arid environments.We examined the role of plant–soil feedbacks on tree seedling growth in relation to water availability as occurring in arid ecosystems along the west coast of South America.Methods In a two-phased greenhouse experiment,we compared plant–soil feedback effects under three water levels(no water,10%gravimetric moisture and 15%gravimetric moisture).We used sterilized soil inoculated with soil collected from northwest Peru(Prosopis pallida forests)and from two sites in north-central Chile(Prosopis chilensis forest and scrublands without P.chilensis).Important Findings Plant–soil feedbacks differed between plant species and soil origins,but water availability did not influence the feedback effects.Plant–soil feedbacks differed in direction and strength in the three soil origins studied.Plant–soil feedbacks of plants grown in Peruvian forest soil were negative for leaf biomass and positive for root length.In contrast,feedbacks were neutral for plants growing in Chilean scrubland soil and positive for leaf biomass for those growing in Chilean forest soil.Our results show that under arid conditions,effects of plant–soil feedback depend upon context.Moreover,the results suggest that plant–soil feedback can influence trade-offs between root growth and leaf biomass investment and as such that feedback interactions between plants and soil biota can make plants either more tolerant or vulnerable to droughts.Based on dissecting plant–soil feedbacks into aboveground and belowground tissue responses,we conclude that plant–soil feedback can enhance plant colonization in some arid ecosystems by promoting root growth.

The relative importance of soil moisture in predicting bacterial wilt disease occurrence

Soil-borne plant diseases cause major economic losses globally.This is partly because their epidemiology is difficult to predict in agricultural fields,where multiple environmental factors could determine disease outcomes.Here we used a combination of field sampling and direct experimentation to identify key abiotic and biotic soil properties that can predict the occurrence of bacterial wilt caused by pathogenic Ralstonia solanacearum.By analyzing 139 tomato rhizosphere soils samples isolated from six provinces in China,we first show a clear link between soil properties,pathogen density and plant health.Specifically,disease outcomes were positively associated with soil moisture,bacterial abundance and bacterial community composition.Based on soil properties alone,random forest machine learning algorithm could predict disease outcomes correctly in 75%of cases with soil moisture being the most significant predictor.The importance of soil moisture was validated causally in a controlled greenhouse experiment,where the highest disease incidence was observed at 60%of maximum water holding capacity.Together,our results show that local soil properties can predict disease occurrence across a wider agricultural landscape,and that management of soil moisture could potentially offer a straightforward method for reducing crop losses to R.solanacearum.

Rhizosphere immunity: targeting the underground for sustainable plant health management

Managing plant health is a great challenge formodern food production and is further complicated by thelack of common ground between the many disciplinesinvolved in disease control. Here we present the concept ofrhizosphere immunity, in which plant health is consideredas an ecosystem level property emerging from networks ofinteractions between plants, microbiota and the surround-ing soil matrix. These interactions can potentially extendthe innate plant immune system to a point where therhizosphere immunity can fulfil all four core functions ofafull immune system: pathogen prevention, recognition,response and homeostasis. We suggest that consideringplant health from a meta-organism perspective will help indeveloping multidisciplinary pathogen management stra-tegies that focus on steering the whole plant-microbe-soilnetworks instead of individual components. This might beachieved by bringing together the latest discoveries inphytopathology, microbiome research, soil science andagronomy to pave the way toward more sustainable andproductive agriculture.

A DNA-Binding Bromodomain-Containing Protein Interacts with and Reduces Rx1-Mediated Immune Response to Potato Virus X

Plant NLR proteins enable the immune systemto recognize and respond to pathogen attack.An early consequence of immune activation is transcriptional reprogramming.SomeNLRs have been shownto act in the nucleus and interact with transcription factors.The Rx1 NLR protein of potato binds and distorts doublestranded DNA.However,the components of the chromatin-localized Rx1 complex are largely unknown.Here,we report a physical and functional interaction between Rx1 and NbDBCP,a bromodomaincontaining chromatin-interacting protein.NbDBCP accumulates in the nucleoplasmand nucleolus,interacts with chromatin,and redistributes Rx1 tothe nucleolus in a subpopulation of imaged cells.Rx1 overexpression reduces the interaction between NbDBCP and chromatin.NbDBCP is a negative regulator of Rx1-mediated immune responses to potato virus X(PVX),and this activity requires an intact bromodomain.Previously,Rx1 has been shown to regulate the DNA-binding activity of a Golden2-like transcription factor,NbGlk1.Rx1 and NbDBCP act synergistically to reduce NbGlk1 DNA binding,suggesting a mode of action for NbDBCP’s inhibitory effect on immunity.This study provides new mechanistic insight into the mechanism by which a chromatin-localized NLR complex co-ordinates immune signaling after pathogen perception.