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Zhang P, Meng S, Bao G, Li Y, Feng X, Lu H, Ma J, Wei X, Liu W. Effect of Epichloë Endophyte on the Growth and Carbon Allocation of Its Host Plant Stipa purpurea under Hemiparasitic Root Stress. Microorganisms 2023; 11:2761. [PMID: 38004772 PMCID: PMC10673280 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms11112761] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2023] [Revised: 11/03/2023] [Accepted: 11/05/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Epichloë endophytes not only affect the growth and resistance of their host plants but also confer nutrient benefits to parasitized hosts. In this study, we used Pedicularis kansuensis to parasitize Stipa purpurea, both with and without endophytic fungi, and to establish a parasitic system. In this study, endophytic fungal infection was found to increase the dry weight of the leaf, stem, and leaf sheath, as well as the plant height, root length, tiller number, aboveground biomass, and underground biomass of S. purpurea under root hemiparasitic stress. Meanwhile, the 13C allocation of the leaf sheaths and roots of S. purpurea increased as the density of P. kansuensis increased, while the 13C allocation of the leaf sheaths and roots of E+ S. purpurea was lower than that of E- S. purpurea. The 13C allocation of the stem, leaf sheath, and root of E+ S. purpurea was higher than that of its E- counterpart. Furthermore, the content of photosynthetic 13C and the 13C partition rate of the stems, leaves, roots, and entire plant of S. purpurea and P. kansuensis transferred from S. purpurea increased as the density of P. kansuensis increased. These results will generate new insights into the potential role of symbiotic microorganisms in regulating the interaction between root hemiparasites and their hosts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peng Zhang
- Qinghai University, Xining 810003, China; (P.Z.); (S.M.); (Y.L.); (X.F.); (H.L.); (J.M.); (X.W.); (W.L.)
| | - Siyu Meng
- Qinghai University, Xining 810003, China; (P.Z.); (S.M.); (Y.L.); (X.F.); (H.L.); (J.M.); (X.W.); (W.L.)
| | - Gensheng Bao
- Qinghai University, Xining 810003, China; (P.Z.); (S.M.); (Y.L.); (X.F.); (H.L.); (J.M.); (X.W.); (W.L.)
- State Key Laboratory of Sanjiangyuan Ecology and Plateau Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Qinghai University, Xining 810003, China
- Qinghai Academy of Animal and Veterinary Medicine, Xining 810016, China
| | - Yuan Li
- Qinghai University, Xining 810003, China; (P.Z.); (S.M.); (Y.L.); (X.F.); (H.L.); (J.M.); (X.W.); (W.L.)
| | - Xiaoyun Feng
- Qinghai University, Xining 810003, China; (P.Z.); (S.M.); (Y.L.); (X.F.); (H.L.); (J.M.); (X.W.); (W.L.)
| | - Hainian Lu
- Qinghai University, Xining 810003, China; (P.Z.); (S.M.); (Y.L.); (X.F.); (H.L.); (J.M.); (X.W.); (W.L.)
| | - Jingjuan Ma
- Qinghai University, Xining 810003, China; (P.Z.); (S.M.); (Y.L.); (X.F.); (H.L.); (J.M.); (X.W.); (W.L.)
| | - Xiaoxing Wei
- Qinghai University, Xining 810003, China; (P.Z.); (S.M.); (Y.L.); (X.F.); (H.L.); (J.M.); (X.W.); (W.L.)
- State Key Laboratory of Sanjiangyuan Ecology and Plateau Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Qinghai University, Xining 810003, China
- Qinghai Academy of Animal and Veterinary Medicine, Xining 810016, China
| | - Wenhui Liu
- Qinghai University, Xining 810003, China; (P.Z.); (S.M.); (Y.L.); (X.F.); (H.L.); (J.M.); (X.W.); (W.L.)
- State Key Laboratory of Sanjiangyuan Ecology and Plateau Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Qinghai University, Xining 810003, China
- Qinghai Academy of Animal and Veterinary Medicine, Xining 810016, China
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Bao G, Zhang P, Wei X, Zhang Y, Liu W. Comparison of the effect of temperature and water potential on the seed germination of five Pedicularis kansuensis populations from the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. Front Plant Sci 2022; 13:1052954. [PMID: 36507375 PMCID: PMC9731731 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.1052954] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2022] [Accepted: 11/07/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Temperature and water potentials are considered the most critical environmental factors in seed germinability and subsequent seedling establishment. The thermal and water requirements for germination are species-specific and vary with the environment in which seeds mature from the maternal plants. Pedicularis kansuensis is a root hemiparasitic weed that grows extensively in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau's degraded grasslands and has seriously harmed the grasslands ecosystem and its utilization. Information about temperatures and water thresholds in P. kansuensis seed germination among different populations is useful to predicting and managing the weed's distribution in degraded grasslands. The present study evaluated the effects of temperature and water potentials on P. kansuensis seed germination in cool and warm habitats, based on thermal time and hydrotime models. The results indicate that seeds from cool habitats have a higher base temperature than those from warm habitats, while there is no detectable difference in optimum and ceiling temperatures between habitats. Seed germination in response to water potential differed among the five studied populations. There was a negative correlation between the seed populations' base water potential for 50% (Ψ b(50)) germination and their hydrotime constant (θ H). The thermal time and hydrotime models were good predictors of five populations' germination time in response to temperature and water potentials. Consequently, future studies should consider the effects of maternal environmental conditions on seed germination when seeking effective strategies for controlling hemiparasitic weeds in alpine regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gensheng Bao
- Key Laboratory of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Forage Germplasm Research, Qinghai Academy of Animal and Veterinary Medicine, Xining, China
- State Key Laboratory of Sanjiangyuan Ecology and Plateau Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Qinghai University, Xining, China
| | - Peng Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Forage Germplasm Research, Qinghai Academy of Animal and Veterinary Medicine, Xining, China
- Qinghai University, Xining, China
| | - XiaoXing Wei
- Key Laboratory of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Forage Germplasm Research, Qinghai Academy of Animal and Veterinary Medicine, Xining, China
- State Key Laboratory of Sanjiangyuan Ecology and Plateau Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Qinghai University, Xining, China
| | - Yongchao Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Forage Germplasm Research, Qinghai Academy of Animal and Veterinary Medicine, Xining, China
- State Key Laboratory of Sanjiangyuan Ecology and Plateau Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Qinghai University, Xining, China
| | - Wenhui Liu
- Key Laboratory of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Forage Germplasm Research, Qinghai Academy of Animal and Veterinary Medicine, Xining, China
- State Key Laboratory of Sanjiangyuan Ecology and Plateau Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Qinghai University, Xining, China
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Qin R, Wei J, Ma L, Zhang Z, She Y, Su H, Chang T, Xie B, Li H, Wang W, Shi G, Zhou H. Effects of Pedicularis kansuensis Expansion on Plant Community Characteristics and Soil Nutrients in an Alpine Grassland. Plants (Basel) 2022; 11:plants11131673. [PMID: 35807625 PMCID: PMC9268960 DOI: 10.3390/plants11131673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2022] [Revised: 06/04/2022] [Accepted: 06/17/2022] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Pedicularis kansuensis is an indicator species of grassland degradation. Its population expansion dramatically impacts the production and service function of the grassland ecosystem, but the effects and mechanisms of the expansion are still unclear. In order to understand the ecological effects of P. kansuensis, three P. kansuensis patches of different densities were selected in an alpine grassland, and species diversity indexes, biomasses, soil physicochemical properties, and the mechanism among them were analyzed. The results showed that P. kansuensis expansion increased the richness index, the Shannon−Wiener index significantly, and the aboveground biomass ratio (ABR) of the Weed group (p < 0.05), but reduced the total biomass of the community and the ABR of the Gramineae and Cyperaceae decreased insignificantly (p > 0.05); soil moisture, soil AOC, and NO3−·N decreased significantly (p < 0.05), while soil pH and total soil nutrients did not change significantly, and available phosphorus (AP) decreased at first and then increased (p < 0.05). The structural equation model (SEM) showed that P. kansuensis expansion had a significant positive effect on the community richness index, and a significant negative effect followed on the soil AOC from the increase of the index; the increase of pH had a significant negative effect on the soil AOC, NO3−·N, and AP. It indicated that P. kansuensis expansion resulted in the increase of species richness, the ABR of the Weed group, and the community’s water demand, which promoted the over-utilization of soil available nutrients in turn, and finally caused the decline of soil quality. This study elucidated a possible mechanism of poisonous weeds expansion, and provided a scientific and theoretical basis for grassland management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruimin Qin
- Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology in Cold Regions, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China; (R.Q.); (J.W.); (L.M.); (Z.Z.); (Y.S.); (H.S.); (T.C.); (B.X.); (H.L.)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Jingjing Wei
- Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology in Cold Regions, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China; (R.Q.); (J.W.); (L.M.); (Z.Z.); (Y.S.); (H.S.); (T.C.); (B.X.); (H.L.)
- College of Geography Science, Qinghai Normal University, Xining 810008, China
| | - Li Ma
- Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology in Cold Regions, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China; (R.Q.); (J.W.); (L.M.); (Z.Z.); (Y.S.); (H.S.); (T.C.); (B.X.); (H.L.)
| | - Zhonghua Zhang
- Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology in Cold Regions, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China; (R.Q.); (J.W.); (L.M.); (Z.Z.); (Y.S.); (H.S.); (T.C.); (B.X.); (H.L.)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Yandi She
- Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology in Cold Regions, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China; (R.Q.); (J.W.); (L.M.); (Z.Z.); (Y.S.); (H.S.); (T.C.); (B.X.); (H.L.)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Hongye Su
- Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology in Cold Regions, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China; (R.Q.); (J.W.); (L.M.); (Z.Z.); (Y.S.); (H.S.); (T.C.); (B.X.); (H.L.)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Tao Chang
- Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology in Cold Regions, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China; (R.Q.); (J.W.); (L.M.); (Z.Z.); (Y.S.); (H.S.); (T.C.); (B.X.); (H.L.)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Beilong Xie
- Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology in Cold Regions, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China; (R.Q.); (J.W.); (L.M.); (Z.Z.); (Y.S.); (H.S.); (T.C.); (B.X.); (H.L.)
- College of Eco-Environmental Engineering, Qinghai University, Xining 810016, China
| | - Honglin Li
- Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology in Cold Regions, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China; (R.Q.); (J.W.); (L.M.); (Z.Z.); (Y.S.); (H.S.); (T.C.); (B.X.); (H.L.)
- State Key Laboratory of Plateau Ecology and Agriculture, Qinghai University, Xining 810016, China
| | - Wenying Wang
- College of Life Science, Qinghai Normal University, Xining 810008, China;
| | - Guoxi Shi
- College of Bioengineering and Biotechnology, Tianshui Normal University, Tianshui 741000, China;
| | - Huakun Zhou
- Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology in Cold Regions, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China; (R.Q.); (J.W.); (L.M.); (Z.Z.); (Y.S.); (H.S.); (T.C.); (B.X.); (H.L.)
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Bao G, Song M, Wang Y, Saikkonen K, Li C. Does Epichloë Endophyte Enhance Host Tolerance to Root Hemiparasite? Microb Ecol 2021; 82:35-48. [PMID: 32086543 DOI: 10.1007/s00248-020-01496-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2019] [Accepted: 02/14/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Epichloë endophytes have been shown to be mutualistic symbionts of cool-season grasses under most environmental conditions. Although pairwise interactions between hemiparasites and their hosts are heavily affected by host-associated symbiotic microorganisms, little attention has been paid to the effects of microbe-plant interactions, particularly endophytic symbiosis, in studies examining the effects of parasitic plants on host performance. In this study, we performed a greenhouse experiment to examine the effects of hereditary Epichloë endophyte symbiosis on the growth of two host grasses (Stipa purpurea and Elymus tangutorum) in the presence or absence of a facultative root hemiparasite (Pedicularis kansuensis Maxim). We observed parasitism of both hosts by P. kansuensis: when grown with a host plant, the hemiparasite decreased the performance of the host while improving its own biomass and survival rate of the hemiparasite. Parasitized endophyte-infected S. purpurea plants had higher biomass, tillers, root:shoot ratio, and photosynthetic parameters and a lower number of functional haustoria than the endophyte-free S. purpurea conspecifics. By contrast, parasitized endophyte-infected E. tangutorum had a lower biomass, root:shoot ratio, and photosynthetic parameters and a higher number of haustoria and functional haustoria than their endophyte-free counterparts. Our results reveal that the interactions between the endophytes and the host grasses are context dependent and that plant-plant interactions can strongly affect their mutualistic interactions. Endophytes originating from S. purpurea alleviate the host biomass reduction by P. kansuensis and growth depression in the hemiparasite. These findings shed new light on using grass-endophyte symbionts as biocontrol methods for the effective and sustainable management of this weedy hemiparasite.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gensheng Bao
- Academy of Animal and Veterinary Medicine, Qinghai University, Xining, 810016, China
- College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, 730020, Lanzhou, China
| | - Meiling Song
- Academy of Animal and Veterinary Medicine, Qinghai University, Xining, 810016, China
| | - Yuqin Wang
- Academy of Animal and Veterinary Medicine, Qinghai University, Xining, 810016, China
| | - Kari Saikkonen
- Biodiversity Unit, University of Turku, 20014, Turku, Finland
| | - Chunjie Li
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730020, China.
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