Wide distribution of the Ustilago maydis-bacterium endosymbiosis in naturally infected maize plants. (1st February 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Pérez-Rodríguez, Fernando; González-Prieto, Juan Manuel; Vera-Núñez, José Antonio; Ruiz-Medrano, Roberto; Peña-Cabriales, Juan José; Ruiz-Herrera, José
• Is Part Of: Plant signaling & behavior. Volume 16:Number 2(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-02-01
• Subjects: Ustilago maydis -- symbiosis -- endobacteria -- fungal-bacteria relationship; Plant ecophysiology -- Periodicals; Plant cellular signal transduction -- Periodicals; Plant cellular signal transduction; Plant ecophysiology; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 581
• DOI: 10.1080/15592324.2020.1855016
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1559-2316

Abstract

ABSTRACT: We have previously described that laboratory strains of Ustilago maydis, a fungal pathogen of maize and its ancestor teosinte, harbor an intracellular bacterium that enables the fungus to fix nitrogen. However, it is not clear whether other strains isolated from nature also harbor endosymbiotic bacteria, and whether these fix nitrogen for its host. In the present study, we isolated U. maydis strains from naturally infected maize. All the isolated strains harbored intracellular bacteria as determined by PCR amplification of the 16S rRNA gene, and some of them showed capacity to fix nitrogen. That these are truly bacterial endosymbionts were shown by the fact that, after thorough treatments with CuSO4 followed by serial incubations with antibiotics, the aforementioned bacterial gene was still amplified in treated fungi. In all, these data support the notion that U. maydis -bacterium endosymbiosis is a general phenomenon in this species.