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Overexpression of Laccaria bicolor aquaporin JQ585595 alters root water transport properties in ectomycorrhizal white spruce ( Picea glauca ) seedlings
Author(s) -
Xu Hao,
Kemppainen Minna,
El Kayal Walid,
Lee Seong Hee,
Pardo Alejandro G.,
Cooke Janice E. K.,
Zwiazek Janusz J.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
new phytologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.742
H-Index - 244
eISSN - 1469-8137
pISSN - 0028-646X
DOI - 10.1111/nph.13098
Subject(s) - aquaporin , water transport , transpiration , biology , botany , shoot , ectomycorrhiza , hydraulic conductivity , endodermis , hypha , water flow , horticulture , mycorrhiza , photosynthesis , soil water , microbiology and biotechnology , symbiosis , ecology , bacteria , genetics , environmental engineering , engineering
Summary The contribution of hyphae to water transport in ectomycorrhizal ( ECM ) white spruce ( P icea glauca ) seedlings was examined by altering expression of a major water‐transporting aquaporin in L accaria bicolor . P icea glauca was inoculated with wild‐type ( WT ), mock transgenic or L . bicolor aquaporin JQ585595 ‐overexpressing ( OE ) strains and exposed to root temperatures ranging from 5 to 20°C to examine the root water transport properties, physiological responses and plasma membrane intrinsic protein ( PIP ) expression in colonized plants. Mycorrhization increased shoot water potential, transpiration, net photosynthetic rates, root hydraulic conductivity and root cortical cell hydraulic conductivity in seedlings. At 20°C, OE plants had higher root hydraulic conductivity compared with WT plants and the increases were accompanied by higher expression of P . glauca PIP GQ 03401_ M 18.1 in roots. In contrast to WT L . bicolor , the effects of OE fungi on root and root cortical cell hydraulic conductivities were abolished at 10 and 5°C in the absence of major changes in the examined transcript levels of P . glauca root PIP s. The results provide evidence for the importance of fungal aquaporins in root water transport of mycorrhizal plants. They also demonstrate links between hyphal water transport, root aquaporin expression and root water transport in ECM plants.