Speaker
Description
Temperate forests provide vital ecosystem services, but foundation species such as the European pedunculate oak (Quercus robur) are under increasing threat from extreme drought. The PhytOakmeter project studies how clonal oak trees and their associated microbiomes respond to, acclimate to, and eventually adapt to water limitations. Tree water and nutrient uptake are enhanced by ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi and their associated bacteria. However, the regulatory crosstalk between plant and fungal gene expression and the mycorrhizosphere community remains unclear.
This report details a two-year open-top greenhouse experiment using oak forest sandy loam to investigate the effects of drought and their legacy. We isolated the dominant oak ECM formed with Scleroderma sp. for RNA sequencing analysis, and characterized the associated bacteria using 16S metabarcoding and phenotypic testing of cultured isolates. Following an initial drought, the oaks were better able to sustain growth during a consecutive drought. Both drought and its legacy impacted the bacterial beta diversity associated with Scleroderma ECM. Specific taxa (Sphingobacteriaceae, Nocardiodaceae, and Propionibacteriaceae) were enriched by both drought and its legacy, whereas Xanthobacteraceae responded only to consecutive drought. The bacterial collection included Proteobacteria, Firmicutes and Actinobacteria that tolerated drought and exhibited various plant-beneficial traits. We will also present how oak and Scleroderma gene expression mirrored the impact of drought and its legacy.
This study highlights the importance of drought in shaping the composition of prokaryotic communities in ectomycorrhizal roots, and in modulating fungal and plant gene expression. Furthermore, it suggests that ectomycorrhiza-directed bacterial culture collections could provide microbiomes adapted to drought that could support host trees during reforestation at stressful sites.
Link: https://www.uni-marburg.de/en/fb17/phytoakmeter
| Status Group | Doctoral Researcher |
|---|---|
| FOR TALKS: Poster Presentation Option | Yes, I’m willing to present as a poster. |