Abstract
Many hosts preferentially associate with or reward better symbionts, but how these symbiont preference traits evolve is an open question. Legumes often form more nodules with or provide more resources to rhizobia that fix more nitrogen (N), but they also acquire N from soil via root foraging. It is unclear whether root responses to abiotically and symbiotically derived N evolve independently. Here, we measured root foraging and both preferential allocation of root resources to and preferential association with an effective vs an ineffective N-fixing Ensifer meliloti strain in 35 inbred lines of the model legume Medicago truncatula. We found that M. truncatula is an efficient root forager and forms more nodules with the effective rhizobium; root biomass increases with the number of effective, but not ineffective, nodules, indicating preferential allocation to roots harbouring effective rhizobia; root foraging is not genetically correlated with either preferential allocation or association; and selection favours plant genotypes that form more effective nodules. Root foraging and symbiont preference traits appear to be genetically uncoupled in M. truncatula. Rather than evolving to exclude ineffective partners, our results suggest that preference traits probably evolve to take better advantage of effective symbionts.
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Claims 6
Claim · model-written summary
M. truncatula is an efficient root forager.
- Taxon
- M. truncatula
Medicago truncatulae0 - Outcome
- efficient root foragere0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“M. truncatula is an efficient root forager and forms more nodules with the effective rhizobium”
Claim · model-written summary
M. truncatula forms more nodules with the effective Ensifer meliloti rhizobium than with the ineffective strain.
- Taxon
- M. truncatulaMedicago truncatulae0
- Interactor
- effective rhizobiume0symbiont
- Outcome
- more nodulese0
- Direction
- moree0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“M. truncatula is an efficient root forager and forms more nodules with the effective rhizobium”
Claim · model-written summary
Root biomass in M. truncatula increases with the number of effective nodules but not with the number of ineffective nodules.
- Taxon
- Medicago truncatulaMedicago truncatulat0
- Organ / stage
- nodulese0
- Outcome
- root biomasse0
- Direction
- increasese0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“root biomass increases with the number of effective, but not ineffective, nodules”
t0“Medicago truncatula”
Claim · model-written summary
Root foraging is not genetically correlated with either preferential allocation or preferential association in M. truncatula.
- Taxon
- Medicago truncatulaMedicago truncatulat0
- Outcome
- root foraginge0
- Comparator
- preferential allocation or associatione0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“root foraging is not genetically correlated with either preferential allocation or association”
t0“Medicago truncatula”
Claim · model-written summary
Selection favours M. truncatula plant genotypes that form more effective nodules.
- Taxon
- Medicago truncatulaMedicago truncatulat0
- Outcome
- selection favours plant genotypes that form more effective nodulese0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“selection favours plant genotypes that form more effective nodules”
t0“Medicago truncatula”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors suggest that preference traits probably evolve to take better advantage of effective symbionts rather than to exclude ineffective partners.
- Taxon
- Medicago truncatulaMedicago truncatulat0
- Interactor
- effective symbiontse0symbiont
- Outcome
- preference traits probably evolvee0
- Qualifier
- probablye0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“our results suggest that preference traits probably evolve to take better advantage of effective symbionts”
t0“Medicago truncatula”