The use of beneficial microorganisms during the acclimatization of micropropagated plants represents a promising biotechnological tool to improve plant establishment and enhance protection against soil pathogens under field conditions. This study explores the potential of a mycorrhizal-based inoculant in biohardening to boost banana plants performance and prime disease resistance. The effects of inoculation during the acclimatization of in vitro-propagated banana plantlets on plant development and resistance against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense Subtropical Race 4 (Foc-STR4) were evaluated. Biohardened plants exhibited enhanced early growth (greater shoot and root development). Moreover, biohardening lead to a strong reduction in disease symptoms (corm necrosis, leaf size and pseudostem diameter) and pathogen proliferation in roots and soil, and improved nutritional status (higher NPK levels) in Foc-STR4 challenged plants. Molecular analyses revealed a primed defense response in the biohardened plants, characterised by an increased accumulation of the defense related hormone salicylic acid and its glucosylated form, alongside with a stronger induction of defense-related genes associated with oxidative stress and jasmonate signalling. Overall, the results reveal that biohardening of micropropagated banana plants with the mycorrhizal inoculant enhances plant performance and primes defense responses, thereby mitigating Fusarium wilt. This study highlights the potential of biohardening strategies for the sustainable protection of micropropagated crops of high agronomic value.
Raquel Correa-Delgado, Juan Manuel García-Ramírez, Patricia Brito-López et al.· Journal of Experimental Bota...· 0 citations
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi enhance plant resistance against necrotrophic fungi by priming jasmonic acid‐dependent defences. Systemin is a solanaceous peptide hormone that mediates resistance against Botrytis cinerea, and JA signalling is critical for this systemin‐mediated defence. Mycorrhizal symbiosis primes prosystemin expression in the tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)–B. cinerea pathosystem. Whether prosystemin or systemin mediates mycorrhiza‐induced resistance (MIR) against B. cinerea remains unclear. We hypothesise that systemin mediates JA priming during MIR. We integrated transcriptional and phosphoproteomic and physiological analysis with functional validation via prosystemin overexpression and virus‐induced gene silencing of key signalling components. Plants treated with systemin, colonised by mycorrhizas, or overexpressing prosystemin exhibited similar levels of resistance. Systemin and MIR primed callose accumulation and JA‐related gene expression. Phosphoproteome analysis revealed a strong overlap between phosphorylated proteins induced during MIR and systemin‐mediated resistance, indicating that systemin modulates MIR via phosphorylation. Components of systemin signalling, including Systemin Receptor‐1 (SYR1), PEPR‐like Kinase‐1 (PORK1), and kinases MPK1/3, were primed during MIR. Silencing of these genes impaired MIR, indicating that intact systemin perception and signalling are required to express functional MIR. MIR is mediated by systemin hypersensitisation, which primes a kinase cascade regulating downstream JA‐dependent responses following fungal infection.
Julia Pastor-Fernández, María Manresa-Grao, Paloma Sánchez-Bel et al.· New Phytologist· 0 citations
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