Rapid evolution of bacterial mutualism in the plant rhizosphere
While beneficial plant-microbe interactions are common in nature, direct evidence for the evolution of bacterial mutualism is scarce. Here we use experimental evolution to causally show that initially plant-antagonistic Pseudomonas protegens bacteria evolve into mutualists in the rhizosphere of Arab...
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Veröffentlicht in: | Nature communications 2021-06, Vol.12 (1), p.3829-3829, Article 3829 |
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Zusammenfassung: | While beneficial plant-microbe interactions are common in nature, direct evidence for the evolution of bacterial mutualism is scarce. Here we use experimental evolution to causally show that initially plant-antagonistic
Pseudomonas protegens
bacteria evolve into mutualists in the rhizosphere of
Arabidopsis thaliana
within six plant growth cycles (6 months). This evolutionary transition is accompanied with increased mutualist fitness via two mechanisms: (i) improved competitiveness for root exudates and (ii) enhanced tolerance to the plant-secreted antimicrobial scopoletin whose production is regulated by transcription factor
MYB72
. Crucially, these mutualistic adaptations are coupled with reduced phytotoxicity, enhanced transcription of
MYB72
in roots, and a positive effect on plant growth. Genetically, mutualism is associated with diverse mutations in the GacS/GacA two-component regulator system, which confers high fitness benefits only in the presence of plants. Together, our results show that rhizosphere bacteria can rapidly evolve along the parasitism-mutualism continuum at an agriculturally relevant evolutionary timescale.
Beneficial plant-microbe interactions are common in nature, but direct evidence for the evolution of mutualism is scarce. Here, Li et al. experimentally evolve a rhizospheric bacterium and find that it can evolve into a mutualist on a relatively short timescale. |
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ISSN: | 2041-1723 2041-1723 |
DOI: | 10.1038/s41467-021-24005-y |