Dr. Juan Ignacio Vilchez is a group leader at ITQB – Nova University of Lisbon. His group – iPlantMicro – seeks to: (i) identify the relationship between plant responses to environmental stresses and their associated microbiomes, (ii) identify the signaling pathways necessary for beneficial relationships and their regulatory mechanisms, and (iii) apply the signaling models to new formula in biofertilizer and biocontroller products, to enhance crops development and production.
Abstract
“Stress-induced epigenetic reprogramming in plant exudomes: The case of myo-inositol signaling for beneficial microbiota recruitment”
The challenge of maintaining crop productivity under environmental stress remains a pressing issue in agriculture. Biotic and abiotic stresses may induce changes in root exudation patterns, ultimately influencing on the recruitment of beneficial microbes. Our studies address this topic by exploring the role of epigenetic regulation—specifically, active DNA demethylation—and different stressors in controlling the exudomes. We evaluated epigenetic regulation shifts related to particular environmental stresses, leading to the discern of altered exudome profiles, particularly on myo‐inositol, that showed to be a pivotal metabolite in plant–microbe signaling. This impact impaired the recruitment of Priestia megaterium, a model growth-promoting bacterium. Using Arabidopsis and tomato epigenetic mutants in Repressor of silencing 1 (ROS1) that can negatively regulate the RdDM pathway, we detected altered patterns in all myo-inositol biosynthetic patterns including FAR1 and FHY3, even inversing regular catabolism patterns along the route. Notably, exogenous myo‐inositol supplementation was able to partially rescue microbial recruitment and enhance plant growth under stress.
These findings suggest that modulating epigenetic states and metabolic outputs can restore advantageous plant–microbe interactions, offering a promising avenue for improving stress resilience. Our research highlights an innovative strategy to reprogram the tomato exudome and optimize rhizosphere communities for sustainable crop management.
