Dominant foliar endophytes influence soybean yield and transcriptome

Bibliographic Details
Title: Dominant foliar endophytes influence soybean yield and transcriptome
Authors: Ivan Sosa Marquez, Karla Griesbaum, Lindsay V Clark, Elizabeth A Ainsworth, Natalie Christian, Katy D Heath
Source: FEMS Microbiol Ecol
Publisher Information: Oxford University Press (OUP), 2025.
Publication Year: 2025
Subject Terms: Plant Leaves, Methylobacterium, Glycine max, Endophytes, Colletotrichum, Transcriptome, Symbiosis, Soil Microbiology, Research Article
Description: Microorganisms associated with plants can affect nutrient and water acquisition, plant defenses, and ecological interactions, with effects on plant growth that range from beneficial to antagonistic. In Glycine max (soybean), many studies have examined the soil microbiome and the legume–rhizobium relationship, but little is known about foliar endophytes, their effects on plant biomass and fitness, and how plants respond to their presence. To address these questions, we inoculated Glycine max with field-collected isolates of previously isolated, dominant strains of Methylobacterium and Colletotrichum in either sterile or non-sterile soil. We then used RNAseq to compare the transcriptomic responses of plants to single- and co-inoculation of endophytes. We found that all endophyte treatments increased soybean growth compared to control, but only in sterile soil. These results suggest context-dependency, with endophytes serving as facultative mutualists under stress or nutrient deprivation. Similarly, transcriptomic analyses revealed that soybean defense and stress responses depended on the interaction of endophytes; Methylobacterium elicited the strongest response but was modulated by the presence of Colletotrichum. Our findings highlight the environmentally dependent effects of co-existing endophytes within soybean leaves.
Document Type: Article
Other literature type
Language: English
ISSN: 1574-6941
DOI: 10.1093/femsec/fiaf053
Access URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40359154
Rights: CC BY
URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Accession Number: edsair.doi.dedup.....1e2816f4eda1d71d41ac55a74207d61e
Database: OpenAIRE
Description
ISSN:15746941
DOI:10.1093/femsec/fiaf053