Browsing by Person "Behr, Jan Helge"

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    Beneficial microbial consortium improves winter rye performance by modulating bacterial communities in the rhizosphere and enhancing plant nutrient acquisition
    (2023) Behr, Jan Helge; Kampouris, Ioannis D.; Babin, Doreen; Sommermann, Loreen; Francioli, Davide; Kuhl-Nagel, Theresa; Chowdhury, Soumitra Paul; Geistlinger, Joerg; Smalla, Kornelia; Neumann, Günter; Grosch, Rita
    The beneficial effect of microbial consortium application on plants is strongly affected by soil conditions, which are influenced by farming practices. The establishment of microbial inoculants in the rhizosphere is a prerequisite for successful plant-microorganism interactions. This study investigated whether a consortium of beneficial microorganisms establishes in the rhizosphere of a winter crop during the vegetation period, including the winter growing season. In addition, we aimed for a better understanding of its effect on plant performance under different farming practices. Winter rye plants grown in a long-time field trial under conventional or organic farming practices were inoculated after plant emergence in autumn with a microbial consortium containing Pseudomonas sp. (RU47), Bacillus atrophaeus (ABi03) and Trichoderma harzianum (OMG16). The density of the microbial inoculants in the rhizosphere and root-associated soil was quantified in autumn and the following spring. Furthermore, the influence of the consortium on plant performance and on the rhizosphere bacterial community assembly was investigated using a multidisciplinary approach. Selective plating showed a high colonization density of individual microorganisms of the consortium in the rhizosphere and root-associated soil of winter rye throughout its early growth cycle. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing showed that the farming practice affected mainly the rhizosphere bacterial communities in autumn and spring. However, the microbial consortium inoculated altered also the bacterial community composition at each sampling time point, especially at the beginning of the new growing season in spring. Inoculation of winter rye with the microbial consortium significantly improved the plant nutrient status and performance especially under organic farming. In summary, the microbial consortium showed sufficient efficacy throughout vegetation dormancy when inoculated in autumn and contributed to better plant performance, indicating the potential of microbe-based solutions in organic farming where nutrient availability is limited.
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    Physiological and metabolic adaptation of Beta vulgaris and Suaeda maritima to salinity and hypoxia
    (2022) Behr, Jan Helge; Zörb, Christian
    Soils with high salinity are often also affected by waterlogging with hypoxic conditions in the root zone, which severely reduces plant growth and crop yield. The combination of salinity and hypoxia generates an intense stress for the plant: On the one hand, hypoxic conditions at the root level cause a severe energy deficit due to the inhibition of oxidative phosphorylation, on the other hand, energy-consuming tolerance mechanisms have to be maintained to cope with salt stress. To better understand the tolerance mechanisms to combined saline and hypoxic conditions, the metabolic and physiological adaptation capacity of the model halophyte Suaeda maritima, typically found in flooded saline soils, and the closely related sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) were analysed. Salt tolerant plants are characterised by their ability to tolerate high Na+ and Cl- concentrations without being damaged by ion toxicity. The basis of this tolerance is primarily osmotic adaptation, the compartmentalisation of ions in cell organelles and the ability to replace K+ with Na+ in important cellular processes. Li+ has similar physico-chemical properties to Na+ and K+, but forms complexes with organic and inorganic anions more readily than other alkali metals. Therefore, Li+ can displace metals during the uptake and translocation by the plant and at enzymatic binding sites, which impairs enzyme activity and can lead to toxic effects. The effects of different cations with similar physicochemical properties on their accumulation pattern at high and low osmolarity were investigated to determine whether Li+ toxicity could be mitigated by competitive uptake of K+ and Na+. Hydroponic culture experiments with increasing salt concentration demonstrated the ability of S. maritima and B. vulgaris to tolerate high salt concentrations by maintaining ion homeostasis and high tissue tolerance to Na+ accumulation. An increased Na+/K+ ratio under hypoxic conditions indicates that an energy shortage caused by oxygen depletion in the root impairs Na+ exclusion and K+ uptake, thereby increasing the ionic imbalance under hypoxic conditions. The metabolic profile showed a tissue-specific response to salinity and hypoxia: The root metabolism is mainly influenced by hypoxia, inhibiting oxidative phosphorylation, while at the same time glycolysis is enhanced to maintain ATP production. The enhanced accumulation of amino acids and TCA cycle intermediates suggests that a partial flow of the TCA cycle fuelled by the GABA shunt may play a crucial role in the recovery of reduction equivalents for ATP production by glycolysis, thereby sustaining energy-intensive cellular processes under hypoxic conditions. As a consequence to the high Na+ accumulation in the shoots, the metabolic profile of young and mature leaves is mainly influenced by salt stress, which triggers the accumulation of compatible solutes for osmotic adjustment and ROS scavenging mechanisms. To achieve tolerance to high salinity, energy consumption rises. Hence, the biomass increase of B. vulgaris stagnates at 200 mM NaCl. In contrast, S. maritima shows its optimal growth at the same salinity range, which reflects the higher adaptability of the halophyte to saline conditions. Different mechanisms in the shoot and root lead to an accumulation of proline, which contributes to the increased tolerance to combined salinity and hypoxia, as proline stabilises membranes and proteins under salt stress and scavenges increased ROS formation induced by hypoxia. High ion accumulation in combination with hypoxic conditions enhances ROS formation in the shoots, leading to light-induced pigment degradation in S. maritima, which is mitigated by enhanced proline biosynthesis in the chloroplasts. In contrast, proline accumulation in the root is not exclusively the result of enhanced proline biosynthesis, but of inhibited proline degradation due to the low availability of reduction equivalents when salinity and hypoxia are combined. The accumulation of Li+ is relatively low in comparison to Na+ and K+, as B. vulgaris strongly limits the Li+ uptake via the transpiration stream to avoid toxic Li+ concentrations in the leaves. High concentrations of Li+ combined with Na+/K+, increase Li+ accumulation in leaves and cause growth inhibition as well as the formation of necrotic tissue, indicating low tissue tolerance to Li+ and severe stress. The application of equimolar concentrations of Na+ and K+ has no effect on Li+ accumulation and ion toxicity, suggesting that Li+ uptake is independent of Na+ and K+ cation channels and that Li+ toxicity is not mainly caused by the displacement of K+ at enzymatic binding sites.