The quest for molecular markers indicating root growth in microbially treated tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants

TL;DR

This study identifies two genes that can serve as molecular markers for early root growth in tomato plants treated with microbes.

Contribution

The paper introduces a marker-assisted method to screen microbes for their root growth-stimulating effects in tomatoes.

Findings

Two genes, SlSNAT2 and Rca, were found to correlate with increased root length in microbially treated tomato plants.

One gene also correlated with higher shoot wet and dry weight in treated plants.

These genes are involved in modulating Rubisco activity and can be used as early indicators of root development.

Abstract

Roots are essential plant organs for anchorage in soil, uptake of water with nutrients, storage of photosynthates, and microbial interactions. More knowledge on microorganisms stimulating root growth is needed to control root development of cultured plants. A marker-assisted approach would facilitate vast screenings of microbes for eventual effects on root development. It was aimed to select for transcripts that report on root growth stimulation at the early tomato plant growth stage upon microbial treatments. Microbially treated tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants were cultivated in stone wool slabs and screened for genes that increased or decreased in differential expression upon increased root growth, by RNAseq. Expression of 21 selected genes was measured by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) in relation with stimulated root growth, recorded by X-ray microtomography, of microbially treated tomato plants cultivated in stone wool blocks. Two genes were identified of which expression significantly correlated with high measured root length, and for one also with high measured shoot wet and dry weight. The translated products, both involved in modulation of Rubisco activity, were a chloroplast-localized acetyltransferase (SlSNAT2) and a Rubisco activase (Rca). Transcripts whose translated products modulate Rubisco activity can serve as candidates for reporting on early root development upon microbial inoculation.

A molecular marker-assisted approach was designed for fast screening among microbial inoculants that stimulate root growth in tomato plants.

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