Genome Sequences of a Plant Beneficial Synthetic Bacterial Community Reveal Genetic Features for Successful Plant Colonization

Author(s)

Correa de Souza, Rafael Soares ^{[1, 2, 3]} ; Leite Armanhi, Jaderson Silveira ^{[1, 2, 3]} ; Damasceno, Natalia de Brito ^{[1, 2, 3]} ; Imperial, Juan ^{[4, 5]} ; Arruda, Paulo ^{[1, 2, 3]}

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Estadual Campinas, Ctr Biol Mol & Engn Genet, Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Estadual Campinas, Inst Biol, Dept Genet & Evolucao, Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[3] Univ Estadual Campinas, GCCRC, Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[4] Univ Politecn Madrid, Inst Nacl Invest & Tecnol Agr & Alimentaria INIA, Ctr Biotecnol & Genom Plantas, Campus Montegancedo UPM, Madrid - Spain

^[5] CSIC, Inst Ciencias Agr, Madrid - Spain

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY; v. 10, AUG 13 2019.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Despite the availability of data on the functional and phylogenetic diversity of plant-associated microbiota, the molecular mechanisms governing the successful establishment of plant bacterial communities remain mostly elusive. To investigate bacterial traits associated with successful colonization of plants, we sequenced the genome of 26 bacteria of a synthetic microbial community (SynCom), 12 of which displayed robust and 14 displayed non-robust colonization lifestyles when inoculated in maize plants. We examined the colonization profile of individual bacteria in inoculated plants and inspected their genomes for traits correlated to the colonization lifestyle. Comparative genomic analysis between robust and non-robust bacteria revealed that commonly investigated plant growth-promoting features such as auxin production, nitrogen (N) fixation, phosphate acquisition, and ACC deaminase are not deterministic for robust colonization. Functions related to carbon (C) and N acquisition, including transporters of carbohydrates and amino acids, and kinases involved in signaling mechanisms associated with C and N uptake, were enriched in robust colonizers. While enrichment of carbohydrate transporters was linked to a wide range of metabolites, amino acid transporters were primarily related to the uptake of branched-chain amino acids. Our findings identify diversification of nutrient uptake phenotypes in bacteria as determinants for successful bacterial colonization of plants. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 18/19100-9 - Designing a microbial synthetic community for improvement of drought stress tolerance in maize plants
• Grantee: Rafael Soares Correa de Souza
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 16/04322-0 - Cross-talk between microorganism-microorganism and plant-microorganism from a representative bacterial collection of the sugarcane microbiome
• Grantee: Jaderson Silveira Leite Armanhi
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)
• FAPESP's process: 16/23218-0 - The Genomics for Climate Change Research Center
• Grantee: Edi Lúcia Sartorato
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Research Centers in Engineering Program
• FAPESP's process: 16/23425-5 - Mapping the colonization of a synthetic microbial community inoculum from sugarcane microbiome in maize and soybean plants
• Grantee: Natália de Brito Damasceno
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master