No abstract

Beneficial plant–microorganism interactions are widespread in nature. Among them, the symbiosis between plant roots and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) is of major importance, commonly improving host nutrition and tolerance against environmental and biotic challenges. Metabolic changes were observed in a well-established symbiosis between tomato and two common AMF: Rhizophagus irregularis and Funneliformis mosseae. Principal component analysis of metabolites, determined by non-targeted liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry, showed a strong metabolic rearrangement in mycorrhizal roots. There was generally a negative impact of mycorrhizal symbiosis on amino acid content, mainly on those involved in the biosynthesis of phenylpropanoids. On the other hand, many intermediaries in amino acid and sugar metabolism and the oxylipin pathway were among the compounds accumulating more in mycorrhizal roots. The metabolic reprogramming also affected other pathways in the secondary metabolism, mainly phenyl alcohols (lignins and lignans) and vitamins. The results showed that source metabolites of these pathways decreased in mycorrhizal roots, whilst the products derived from α-linolenic and amino acids presented higher concentrations in AMF-colonized roots. Mycorrhization therefore increased the flux into those pathways. Venn-diagram analysis showed that there are many induced signals shared by both mycorrhizal interactions, pointing to general mycorrhiza-associated changes in the tomato metabolome. Moreover, fungus-specific fingerprints were also found, suggesting that specific molecular alterations may underlie the reported functional diversity of the symbiosis. Since most positively regulated pathways were related to stress response mechanisms, their potential contribution to improved host stress tolerance is discussed.

SUMMARYPathogenesis-related proteins played a pioneering role 50 years ago in the discovery of plant innate immunity as a set of proteins that accumulated upon pathogen challenge. The most abundant of these proteins, PATHOGENESIS-RELATED 1 (PR-1) encodes a small antimicrobial protein that has become, as a marker of plant immune signaling, one of the most referred to plant proteins. The biochemical activity and mode of action of PR-1 proteins has remained elusive, however. Here, we provide genetic and biochemical evidence for the capacity of PR-1 proteins to bind sterols, and demonstrate that the inhibitory effect on pathogen growth is caused by the sequestration of sterol from pathogens. In support of our findings, sterol-auxotroph pathogens such as the oomycete Phytophthora are particularly sensitive to PR-1, whereas sterol-prototroph fungal pathogens become highly sensitive only when sterol biosynthesis is compromised. Our results are in line with previous findings showing that plants with enhanced PR-1 expression are particularly well protected against oomycete pathogens.

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