Endophytic Microbiome Responses to Sulfur Availability in Beta vulgaris (L.)

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 22; no. 13; p. 7184
• Main Authors: Bertoldo, Giovanni, Della Lucia, Maria Cristina, Squartini, Andrea, Concheri, Giuseppe, Broccanello, Chiara, Romano, Alessandro, Ravi, Samathmika, Cagnin, Massimo, Baglieri, Andrea, Stevanato, Piergiorgio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-07-2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Abiotic stress; Amino acids; Availability; Bacteria; Beta vulgaris; Community structure; Endophytes; endophytic community; Inductively coupled plasma; Magnesium sulfate; Microbiomes; Microorganisms; miRNA; Next Generation Sequencing (NGS); Nutrient deficiency; Nutritional status; Physiology; rRNA 16S; Salinity; Seedlings; Spectrum analysis; Sugar; sugar beet; Sugar beets; Sulfates; Sulfur; Sulfur content; United States > US
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms22137184

Sulfur is an essential plant macronutrient, and its adequate supply allows an efficient root storage and sugar extractability in sugar beets (Beta vulgaris L.). In this study, we investigated the effect of changes in sulfur availability on the endophytic community structure of sugar beets. Plants were hydroponically grown in a complete nutrient solution (S-supplied), a nutrient solution without MgSO4 (S-deprived), and a nutrient solution without MgSO4 for six days and resupplied with 100 μM MgSO4 for 48 h (S-resupplied). The sulfur status was monitored by inductively coupled plasma ICP–OES, and combustion analysis together with the evaluation of microRNA395 as a biomarker for sulfate status. Metabarcoding of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene was carried out in order to determine leaf endophytic community structure. The Shannon diversity index significantly differed (p < 0.05) between sulfate-supplied and sulfate-deprived seedlings. Validation by Real-Time PCR showed a significant increase (p < 0.05) of Burkholderia spp. in sulfate-deprived plants as compared to sulfate-supplied ones. The study sheds new light on the effects of nutrient deficiency on the microbiome of sugar beet plants.