Piriformospora indica promotes early flowering in Arabidopsis through regulation of the photoperiod and gibberellin pathways

PLoS One. 2017 Dec 19;12(12):e0189791. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0189791. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Flowering in plants is synchronized by both environmental cues and internal regulatory factors. Previous studies have shown that the endophytic fungus Piriformospora indica promotes the growth and early flowering in Coleus forskohlii (a medicinal plant) and Arabidopsis. To further dissect the impact of P. indica on pathways responsible for flowering time in Arabidopsis, we co-cultivated Arabidopsis with P. indica and used RT-qPCR to analyze the main gene regulation networks involved in flowering. Our results revealed that the symbiotic interaction of Arabidopsis with P. indica promotes early flower development and the number of siliques. In addition, expression of the core flowering regulatory gene FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT), of genes controlling the photoperiod [CRYPTOCHROMES (CRY1, CRY2) and PHYTOCHROME B (PHYB)] and those related to gibberellin (GA) functions (RGA1, AGL24, GA3, and MYB5) were induced by the fungus, while key genes controlling the age and autonomous pathways remained unchanged. Moreover, early flowering promotion conferred by P. indica was promoted by exogenous GA and inhabited by GA inhibitor, and this effect could be observed under long day and neutral day photoperiod. Therefore, our data suggested that P. indica promotes early flowering in Arabidopsis likely through photoperiod and GA rather than age or the autonomous pathway.

MeSH terms

  • Arabidopsis / genetics
  • Arabidopsis / growth & development
  • Arabidopsis / microbiology*
  • Arabidopsis / physiology*
  • Basidiomycota / physiology*
  • Flowers / drug effects
  • Flowers / genetics
  • Flowers / physiology*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / drug effects
  • Gibberellins / metabolism*
  • Gibberellins / pharmacology
  • Phenotype
  • Photoperiod*
  • Plant Development / drug effects
  • Plant Development / genetics
  • Soil
  • Time Factors
  • Triazoles / pharmacology

Substances

  • Gibberellins
  • Soil
  • Triazoles
  • uniconazole

Grants and funding

RO was supported by CRC1127. The financial support was provided by the Engineering Research Center of Ecology and Agricultural Use of Wetland, Ministry of Education (KF201515).