Expression Analysis of the First Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Aquaporin Described Reveals Communication between Salt Stressed and non Stressed Mycelium

RICARDO AROCA; ALBERTO BAGO; MOIRA SUTKA; JOSE ANTONIO PAZ; CUSTODIA CANO; GABRIELA AMODEO; JUAN MANUEL RUIZ LOZANO

MOLECULAR PLANT-MICROBE INTERACTIONS

American Phytopathological Society Press

Lugar: St Paul, MN USA; Año: 2009 p. 1169 - 1178

0894-0282

Roots of most plants in nature are colonized by arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. Among the beneficial effects of this symbiosis to the host plant is the transport of water by the AM mycelium from inaccessible soil water resources to host roots. Here, an aquaporin (water channel) gene from an AM fungus (Glomus intraradices), which was named GintAQP1, is reported for the first time. From experiments in different colonized host roots growing under several environmental conditions, it seems that GintAQP1 gene expression is regulated in a compensatory way regarding host root aquaporins expression. At the same time, from in vitro experiments, it was shown that a signaling communication between NaCl treated mycelium and untreated mycelium took place in order to regulate gene expression of both GintAQP1 and host root aquaporins. This communication could be involved in the transport of water from osmotically favorable growing mycelium and/or host roots to salt stressed tissues.