Involvement of Peptidoglycan Receptor Proteins in Mediating the Growth-Promoting Effects of Bacillus pumilus TUAT1 in Arabidopsis thaliana

Abstract

Bacillus pumilus TUAT1 acts as plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) for various plants like rice and Arabidopsis. Under stress conditions, B. pumilus TUAT1 forms spores with a thick peptidoglycan (PGN) cell wall. Previous research showed that spores were significantly more effective than vegetative cells in enhancing plant growth. In Arabidopsis, the lysin-motif proteins LYM1, LYM3, and CERK1 are required for recognizing bacterial peptidoglycans (PGNs) to mediate immunity. Here, we examined the involvement of PGN receptor proteins in the PGP effects of B. pumilus TUAT1 using Arabidopsis mutants defective in PGNs receptors. Root growth of wild-type, cerk1-1, lym1-1 and lym1-2 mutant plants was significantly increased by TUAT1 inoculation, but this was not the case for lym3-1 and lym3-2 mutant plants. RNA-seq analysis revealed that the expression of a number of defense-related genes was upregulated in lym3 mutant plants. These results suggested that B. pumilus TUAT1 may act to reduce the defense response, which is dependent on a functional LYM3. The expression of the defense-responsive gene, WRKY29, was significantly induced by the elicitor flg-22, both in wild-type and lym3 mutant plants, while this induction was significantly reduced by treatment with B. pumilus TUAT1 and PGNs in wild-type, but not in lym3 mutant plants. These findings suggest that the PGNs of B. pumilus TUAT1 may be recognized by the LYM3 receptor protein, suppressing the defense response, which results in plant growth promotion in a trade-off between defense and growth.