title: Insights on the Impact of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Symbiosis on Tomato Tolerance to Water Stress.
abstract: Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, which form symbioses with the roots of the most important crop species, are usually considered biofertilizers, whose exploitation could represent a promising avenue for the development in the future of a more sustainable next-generation agriculture. The best understood function in symbiosis is an improvement in plant mineral nutrient acquisition, as exchange for carbon compounds derived from the photosynthetic process: this can enhance host growth and tolerance to environmental stresses, such as water stress (WS). However, physiological and molecular mechanisms occurring in arbuscular mycorrhiza-colonized plants and directly involved in the mitigation of WS effects need to be further investigated. The main goal of this work is to verify the potential impact of AM symbiosis on the plant response to WS To this aim, the effect of two AM fungi (Funneliformis mosseae and Rhizophagus intraradices) on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) under the WS condition was studied. A combined approach, involving ecophysiological, morphometric, biochemical, and molecular analyses, has been used to highlight the mechanisms involved in plant response to WS during AM symbiosis. Gene expression analyses focused on a set of target genes putatively involved in the plant response to drought, and in parallel, we considered the expression changes induced by the imposed stress on a group of fungal genes playing a key role in the water-transport process. Taken together, the results show that AM symbiosis positively affects the tolerance to WS in tomato, with a different plant response depending on the AM fungi species involved.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection, National Research Council, 10135 Turin (W.C., G.G.), 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (E.M.), 10125 Turin (E.L., R.B.), 80055 Portici (P.C., E.G.), Italy;Department of Agricultural, Forest, and Food Sciences (C.P., A.S.), Turin University, 10095 Grugliasco (TO), Italy; Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences (I.S.), Turin University, 10126 Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Walter
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5382-3794
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chitarra
authors.affiliation: Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection, National Research Council, 10135 Turin (W.C., G.G.), 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (E.M.), 10125 Turin (E.L., R.B.), 80055 Portici (P.C., E.G.), Italy;Department of Agricultural, Forest, and Food Sciences (C.P., A.S.), Turin University, 10095 Grugliasco (TO), Italy; Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences (I.S.), Turin University, 10126 Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4656-6192
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pagliarani
authors.affiliation: Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection, National Research Council, 10135 Turin (W.C., G.G.), 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (E.M.), 10125 Turin (E.L., R.B.), 80055 Portici (P.C., E.G.), Italy;Department of Agricultural, Forest, and Food Sciences (C.P., A.S.), Turin University, 10095 Grugliasco (TO), Italy; Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences (I.S.), Turin University, 10126 Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Biancaelena
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2872-2235
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Maserti
authors.affiliation: Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection, National Research Council, 10135 Turin (W.C., G.G.), 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (E.M.), 10125 Turin (E.L., R.B.), 80055 Portici (P.C., E.G.), Italy;Department of Agricultural, Forest, and Food Sciences (C.P., A.S.), Turin University, 10095 Grugliasco (TO), Italy; Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences (I.S.), Turin University, 10126 Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Erica
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5864-8561
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lumini
authors.affiliation: Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection, National Research Council, 10135 Turin (W.C., G.G.), 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (E.M.), 10125 Turin (E.L., R.B.), 80055 Portici (P.C., E.G.), Italy;Department of Agricultural, Forest, and Food Sciences (C.P., A.S.), Turin University, 10095 Grugliasco (TO), Italy; Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences (I.S.), Turin University, 10126 Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Ilenia
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Siciliano
authors.affiliation: Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection, National Research Council, 10135 Turin (W.C., G.G.), 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (E.M.), 10125 Turin (E.L., R.B.), 80055 Portici (P.C., E.G.), Italy;Department of Agricultural, Forest, and Food Sciences (C.P., A.S.), Turin University, 10095 Grugliasco (TO), Italy; Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences (I.S.), Turin University, 10126 Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Pasquale
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4097-1974
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cascone
authors.affiliation: Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection, National Research Council, 10135 Turin (W.C., G.G.), 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (E.M.), 10125 Turin (E.L., R.B.), 80055 Portici (P.C., E.G.), Italy;Department of Agricultural, Forest, and Food Sciences (C.P., A.S.), Turin University, 10095 Grugliasco (TO), Italy; Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences (I.S.), Turin University, 10126 Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7355-5865
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schubert
authors.affiliation: Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection, National Research Council, 10135 Turin (W.C., G.G.), 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (E.M.), 10125 Turin (E.L., R.B.), 80055 Portici (P.C., E.G.), Italy;Department of Agricultural, Forest, and Food Sciences (C.P., A.S.), Turin University, 10095 Grugliasco (TO), Italy; Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences (I.S.), Turin University, 10126 Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1590-4478
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gambino
authors.affiliation: Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection, National Research Council, 10135 Turin (W.C., G.G.), 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (E.M.), 10125 Turin (E.L., R.B.), 80055 Portici (P.C., E.G.), Italy;Department of Agricultural, Forest, and Food Sciences (C.P., A.S.), Turin University, 10095 Grugliasco (TO), Italy; Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences (I.S.), Turin University, 10126 Turin, Italy raffaella.balestrini@ipsp.cnr.it.
authors.forename: Raffaella
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7958-7681
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Balestrini
authors.affiliation: Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection, National Research Council, 10135 Turin (W.C., G.G.), 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (E.M.), 10125 Turin (E.L., R.B.), 80055 Portici (P.C., E.G.), Italy;Department of Agricultural, Forest, and Food Sciences (C.P., A.S.), Turin University, 10095 Grugliasco (TO), Italy; Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences (I.S.), Turin University, 10126 Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Emilio
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0583-4667
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Guerrieri
mesh_terms: D003681:Dehydration; D055137:Glomeromycota / Q000502:physiology*; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology; D038821:Mycorrhizae / Q000502:physiology*; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000382:microbiology / Q000502:physiology; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D013559:Symbiosis; D014867:Water / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D014867:Water