title: Mutualistic fungal endophytes produce phytohormones and organic acids that promote japonica rice plant growth under prolonged heat stress.
abstract: This study identifies the potential role in heat-stress mitigation of phytohormones and other secondary metabolites produced by the endophytic fungus Paecilomyces formosus LWL1 in japonica rice cultivar Dongjin. The japonica rice was grown in controlled chamber conditions with and without P. formosus LWL1 under no stress (NS) and prolonged heat stress (HS) conditions. Endophytic association under NS and HS conditions significantly improved plant growth attributes, such as plant height, fresh weight, dry weight, and chlorophyll content. Furthermore, P. formosus LWL1 protected the rice plants from HS compared with controls, indicated by the lower endogenous level of stress-signaling compounds such as abscisic acid (25.71%) and jasmonic acid (34.57%) and the increase in total protein content (18.76%-33.22%). Such fungal endophytes may be helpful for sustainable crop production under high environmental temperatures.
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Biosciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 702-701, Republic of Korea.|Department of Agriculture Extension, Buner 19290, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Waqas
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Biosciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 702-701, Republic of Korea.|UoN Chair of Oman's Medicinal Plants & Marine Natural Products, University of Nizwa, Nizwa 616, Oman.
authors.forename: Abdul Latif
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Biosciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 702-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Raheem
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shahzad
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Biosciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 702-701, Republic of Korea.|Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, the University of Agriculture, Peshawar 25130, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Ihsan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ullah
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Biosciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 702-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Abdur Rahim
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Biosciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 702-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: In-Jung
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000040:Abscisic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D003517:Cyclopentanes / Q000378:metabolism; D060026:Endophytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D018869:Heat-Shock Response; D012275:Oryza / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology*; D054883:Oxylipins / Q000378:metabolism; D010937:Plant Growth Regulators / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D013559:Symbiosis
chemical_list: D003517:Cyclopentanes; D054883:Oxylipins; D010937:Plant Growth Regulators; D010940:Plant Proteins; C011006:jasmonic acid; D000040:Abscisic Acid
keywords: Endophytes; Heat-stress mitigation; Organic acids; Paecilomyces formosus LWL1; Phytohormones; Plant-growth promotion