IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v13y2022i1d10.1038_s41467-022-31113-w.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A highly conserved core bacterial microbiota with nitrogen-fixation capacity inhabits the xylem sap in maize plants

Author

Listed:
  • Liyu Zhang

    (Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences)

  • Meiling Zhang

    (Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences)

  • Shuyu Huang

    (Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences)

  • Lujun Li

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Qiang Gao

    (Jilin Agricultural University)

  • Yin Wang

    (Jilin Agricultural University)

  • Shuiqing Zhang

    (Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences)

  • Shaomin Huang

    (Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences)

  • Liang Yuan

    (Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences)

  • Yanchen Wen

    (Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences)

  • Kailou Liu

    (National Engineering and Technology Research Center for Red Soil Improvement)

  • Xichu Yu

    (National Engineering and Technology Research Center for Red Soil Improvement)

  • Dongchu Li

    (Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences)

  • Lu Zhang

    (Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences)

  • Xinpeng Xu

    (Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences)

  • Hailei Wei

    (Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences)

  • Ping He

    (Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences)

  • Wei Zhou

    (Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences)

  • Laurent Philippot

    (Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, INRAE, AgroSup Dijon, Agroécologie)

  • Chao Ai

    (Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences)

Abstract

Microbiomes are important for crop performance. However, a deeper knowledge of crop-associated microbial communities is needed to harness beneficial host-microbe interactions. Here, by assessing the assembly and functions of maize microbiomes across soil types, climate zones, and genotypes, we found that the stem xylem selectively recruits highly conserved microbes dominated by Gammaproteobacteria. We showed that the proportion of bacterial taxa carrying the nitrogenase gene (nifH) was larger in stem xylem than in other organs such as root and leaf endosphere. Of the 25 core bacterial taxa identified in xylem sap, several isolated strains were confirmed to be active nitrogen-fixers or to assist with biological nitrogen fixation. On this basis, we established synthetic communities (SynComs) consisting of two core diazotrophs and two helpers. GFP-tagged strains and 15N isotopic dilution method demonstrated that these SynComs do thrive and contribute, through biological nitrogen fixation, 11.8% of the total N accumulated in maize stems. These core taxa in xylem sap represent an untapped resource that can be exploited to increase crop productivity.

Suggested Citation

  • Liyu Zhang & Meiling Zhang & Shuyu Huang & Lujun Li & Qiang Gao & Yin Wang & Shuiqing Zhang & Shaomin Huang & Liang Yuan & Yanchen Wen & Kailou Liu & Xichu Yu & Dongchu Li & Lu Zhang & Xinpeng Xu & Ha, 2022. "A highly conserved core bacterial microbiota with nitrogen-fixation capacity inhabits the xylem sap in maize plants," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-31113-w
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31113-w
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-31113-w
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-022-31113-w?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Keara L. Grady & Jackson W. Sorensen & Nejc Stopnisek & John Guittar & Ashley Shade, 2019. "Assembly and seasonality of core phyllosphere microbiota on perennial biofuel crops," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-10, December.
    2. Jin Xu & Yunzeng Zhang & Pengfan Zhang & Pankaj Trivedi & Nadia Riera & Yayu Wang & Xin Liu & Guangyi Fan & Jiliang Tang & Helvécio D. Coletta-Filho & Jaime Cubero & Xiaoling Deng & Veronica Ancona & , 2018. "The structure and function of the global citrus rhizosphere microbiome," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-10, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Adina Howe & Nejc Stopnisek & Shane K. Dooley & Fan Yang & Keara L. Grady & Ashley Shade, 2023. "Seasonal activities of the phyllosphere microbiome of perennial crops," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-16, December.
    2. Ning Ling & Tingting Wang & Yakov Kuzyakov, 2022. "Rhizosphere bacteriome structure and functions," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-31113-w. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.