Abstract
Plants can defend themselves to pathogen and herbivore attack by responding to chemical signals that are emitted by attacked plants. It is well established that such signals can be transferred through the air. In theory, plants can also communicate with each other through underground common mycorrhizal networks (CMNs) that interconnect roots of multiple plants. However, until now research focused on plant-to-plant carbon nutrient movement and there is no evidence that defense signals can be exchanged through such mycorrhizal hyphal networks. Here, we show that CMNs mediate plant-plant communication between healthy plants and pathogen-infected tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.). After establishment of CMNs with the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus mosseae between tomato plants, inoculation of 'donor' plants with the pathogen Alternaria solani led to increases in disease resistance and activities of the putative defensive enzymes, peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase, chitinase, β-1,3-glucanase, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and lipoxygenase in healthy neighbouring 'receiver' plants. The uninfected 'receiver' plants also activated six defence-related genes when CMNs connected 'donor' plants challenged with A. solani. This finding indicates that CMNs may function as a plant-plant underground communication conduit whereby disease resistance and induced defence signals can be transferred between the healthy and pathogen-infected neighbouring plants, suggesting that plants can 'eavesdrop' on defence signals from the pathogen-challenged neighbours through CMNs to activate defences before being attacked themselves.
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Claims 5
Claim · model-written summary
Common mycorrhizal networks mediated communication between healthy and infected tomato plants.
- Taxon
- tomato plants
Solanum lycopersicume0 - Interactor
- pathogene0
- Outcome
- plant-plant communicatione0
- Qualifier
- CMNse0
Not reportedInteractor role
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“CMNs mediate plant-plant communication between healthy plants and pathogen-infected tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Inoculation of donor tomato with Alternaria solani increased disease resistance of healthy receivers connected by Glomus mosseae networks.
- Taxon
- tomato plantsSolanum lycopersicume0
- Treatment
- inoculation of 'donor' plants with the pathogen Alternaria solanie0
- Interactor
- Alternaria solani
Alternaria solanie0pathogen - Second interactor
- Glomus mosseae
Funneliformis mosseaee0symbiont - Outcome
- disease resistancee0
- Direction
- increasese0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“After establishment of CMNs with the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus mosseae between tomato plants, inoculation of 'donor' plants with the pathogen Alternaria solani led to increases in disease resistance and activities of the putative defensive enzymes, peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase, chitinase, β-1,3-glucanase, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and lipoxygenase in healthy neighbouring 'receiver' plants”
Claim · model-written summary
Pathogen challenge increased peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase and chitinase activity in receivers.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- inoculation of 'donor' plants with the pathogen Alternaria solanie0
- Interactor
- Alternaria solaniAlternaria solanie0pathogen
- Outcome
- activities of the putative defensive enzymes, peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase, chitinasee0
- Direction
- increasese0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“inoculation of 'donor' plants with the pathogen Alternaria solani led to increases in disease resistance and activities of the putative defensive enzymes, peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase, chitinase, β-1,3-glucanase, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and lipoxygenase in healthy neighbouring 'receiver' plants”
t0“Tomato Plants”
Claim · model-written summary
Pathogen challenge increased β-1,3-glucanase, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and lipoxygenase activity in receivers.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- inoculation of 'donor' plants with the pathogen Alternaria solanie0
- Interactor
- Alternaria solaniAlternaria solanie0pathogen
- Outcome
- β-1,3-glucanase, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and lipoxygenasee0
- Direction
- increasese0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“inoculation of 'donor' plants with the pathogen Alternaria solani led to increases in disease resistance and activities of the putative defensive enzymes, peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase, chitinase, β-1,3-glucanase, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and lipoxygenase in healthy neighbouring 'receiver' plants”
t0“Tomato Plants”
Claim · model-written summary
Uninfected receiver tomato plants activated six defense genes when networks connected pathogen-challenged donors.
- Taxon
- Tomato PlantsSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Interactor
- A. solaniAlternaria solanie0pathogen
- Outcome
- activated six defence-related genese0
- Value
- sixe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The uninfected 'receiver' plants also activated six defence-related genes when CMNs connected 'donor' plants challenged with A. solani”
t0“Tomato Plants”
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