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Epichloë endophyte infection enhances the tolerance of Stipa purpurea to parasitic stress through the regulation of antioxidants and phytohormones

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Abstract

Aims

Root hemiparasite infection is considered a potential biotic stress that affects the growth of cool-season grasses, and the damage caused by a hemiparasitic plant to host grasses is largely determined by the density of the hemiparasite. Epichloë endophytes have been shown to be mutualistic symbionts of cool-season grasses under most environmental conditions. Although cool-season grasses can be host to both Epichloë endophytes and hemiparasites, little attention has been given to how Epichloë infection regulates the physiological and phytohormone responses of host grasses under parasitic stress.

Methods

We performed a pot experiment with an endophyte-infected and endophyte-free host grass, Stipa purpurea, and a facultative hemiparasite, Pedicularis kansuensis. The grasses were grown together under different densities of the hemiparasite (control, one or three plants per pot). Grass growth as well as physiological and phytohormone parameters were determined following parasitic stress.

Results

Successful parasitism increased the biomass and survival of P. kansuensis while suppressing the growth of S. purpurea. The reduction in the growth of S. purpurea was dependent on the density of P. kansuensis. Epichloë infection of S. purpurea improved the tolerance of this grass to parasitic stress, resulting in more tillers, longer roots, higher shoot and root biomasses and a higher root:shoot ratio compared with those of the endophyte-free grass. Interestingly, Epichloë infection increased proline, indole-3-acetic acid and abscisic acid production as well as superoxide dismutase, peroxidase and catalase activities and reduced the malondialdehyde content, root vitality and zeatin riboside content under root hemiparasitic stress.

Conclusions

Our results demonstrate that the growth of the host grass was severely reduced under parasitic stress; the negative effects of hemiparasitic plants on the host grass were largely determined by the density of the hemiparasite. The findings also indicate that the Epichloë endophytes greatly alleviated the damage caused by the hemiparasite to the cool-season grass by producing more antioxidant enzymes, enhancing root viability, synthesizing certain phytohormones and suppressing haustorium formation.

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Abbreviations

E + :

Endophyte infected

E − :

Endophyte free

NH:

Without host plant

MDA:

Malondialdehyde

SOD:

Superoxide dismutase

CAT:

Catalase

POD:

Peroxidase

TTC:

Triphenyltetrazolium chloride

IAA:

Indole-3-acetic acid

ABA:

Abscisic acid

ZR:

Zeatin riboside

HPLC–MS/MS:

High-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

MRM:

Multiple reaction monitoring

ANOVA:

Analysis of variance

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Professor Hongsheng Wang and Professor Wenhui Liu for their constructive comments on the manuscript. This research was financially supported by the Key Laboratory of Superior Forage Germplasm on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (2020-ZJ-Y03), the Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants 32060398 and 31660690 and 31700098) and the Program for Qinghai Province Thousand Talent Innovative Plan.

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  1. Key Laboratory of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Superior Forage Germplasm Research, Qinghai Academy of Animal and Veterinary Medicine, Weier Road 1, Xining, 810016, China

    Gensheng Bao, Meiling Song, Yuqin Wang & Yali Yin

  2. State Key Laboratory of Plateau Ecology and Agriculture, Qinghai University, Xining, 810003, China

    Gensheng Bao, Meiling Song, Yuqin Wang & Yali Yin

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  1. Gensheng Bao
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Bao, G., Song, M., Wang, Y. et al. Epichloë endophyte infection enhances the tolerance of Stipa purpurea to parasitic stress through the regulation of antioxidants and phytohormones. Plant Soil 466, 239–256 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-021-05046-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-021-05046-0

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