Choline and osmotic-stress tolerance induced in Arabidopsis by the soil microbe Bacillus subtilis (GB03)

Huiming Zhang, Cheryl Murzello, Yan Sun, Mi-Seong Kim, Xitao Xie, Randall Jeter, John Zak, Scot Dowd, Paul Pare

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Choline (Cho) is an essential nutrient for humans as well as the precursor of glycine betaine (GlyBet), an important compatible solute in eukaryotes that protects cells from osmotic stress caused by dehydrating conditions. The key enzyme for plant Cho synthesis is phosphoethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PEAMT), which catalyzes all three methylation steps, including the rate-limiting N-methylation of phosphoethanolamine. Herein, we report that the beneficial soil bacterium Bacillus subtilis (strain GB03) enhances Arabidopsis Cho and GlyBet synthesis associated with enhanced plant tolerance to osmotic stress. When stressed with 100 mM exogenous mannitol, GB03-exposed plants exhibit increased transcript level of PEAMT compared with stressed plants without bacterial exposure. Endogenous Cho and GlyBet metabolite pools were elevated by more than two- and fivefold, respectively, by GB03 treatment, consistent with increased stress tolerance. Moreover, in the xipotl mutant line with reduced
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1097-1104
JournalMolecular Plant-Microbe Interactions/American Phytopathological Society
StatePublished - Aug 2010

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