Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of Nigrospora sp. isolated from switchgrass leaves and antagonistic toward plant pathogens

Nigrospora is a diverse genus of fungi colonizing plants through endophytic, pathogenic, or saprobic interactions. Endophytic isolates can improve growth and development of host plants, as well as their resistance to microbial pathogens, but exactly how they do so remains poorly understood. Developi...

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Published in:Journal of microbiological methods 2023-12, Vol.215, p.106849-106849, Article 106849
Main Authors: Dutta, Summi, Houdinet, Gabriella, NandaKafle, Gitanjali, Kafle, Arjun, Hawkes, Christine V, Garcia, Kevin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agrobacterium tumefaciens - genetics
Ascomycota - genetics
Biotechnology
Botanics
Computer Science
Environmental Sciences
Life Sciences
Panicum
Phenotype
Plant Leaves
Transformation, Genetic
Vegetal Biology
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Summary:Nigrospora is a diverse genus of fungi colonizing plants through endophytic, pathogenic, or saprobic interactions. Endophytic isolates can improve growth and development of host plants, as well as their resistance to microbial pathogens, but exactly how they do so remains poorly understood. Developing a reliable transformation method is crucial to investigate these mechanisms, in particular to identify pivotal genes for specific functions that correlate with specific traits. In this study, we identified eight isolates of Nigrospora sp. internally colonizing the leaves of switchgrass plants cultivated in North Carolina. Using an Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation approach with control and GFP-expressing vectors, we report the first successful transformation of two Nigrospora isolates. Finally, we demonstrate that wild-type and transgenic isolates both negatively impact the growth of two plant pathogens in co-culture conditions, Bipolaris maydis and Parastagonospora nodorum, responsible for the Southern Leaf Blight and Septoria Nodorum Blotch diseases, respectively. The GFP-transformed strains developed here can therefore serve as accurate reporters of spatial interactions in future studies of Nigrospora and pathogens in the plant. Finally, the transformation method we describe lays the foundation for further genetic research on the Nigrospora genus to expand our mechanistic understanding of plant-endophyte interactions.
ISSN:0167-7012
1872-8359
0167-7012
DOI:10.1016/j.mimet.2023.106849