Division of Biotechnology and Plant Health
PROTECT: Priming for Resistance Of Trees and its Effects on microbial CommuniTies
End: sep 2025
Start: oct 2021
Spruce trees protect themselves from pest and pathogens using a wide range of defenses. These defenses adapt to changes in the environment. These defenses can also be sensitized so that they can be more rapidly activated upon attack. This sensitization is similar to a person getting a vaccination. Like humans, plants live in relationship with beneficial microorganisms. These organisms help plants to be healthy and avoid sickness. In this project, we seek to better understand how sensitizing of the Norway spruce immune response effects their relationship with helpful microorganisms and how these microorganisms effect the Norway spruce immune response. We will identify novel spruce vaccinating chemicals that increase spruce resistance with minimal secondary effects, such as growth inhibition. We will also determine the effects of vaccinating on spruce associated microorganisms and the effects of these microorganisms on spruce defenses. Knowledge gained from this project will deepen our understanding of the relationship between spruce and its microogranisms. In addition, we hope to find a solution to use less pesticides, protect spruce from damage and develop a more sustainable and profitable forestry practices.
| Status | Concluded |
| Start - end date | 01.10.2021 - 30.09.2025 |
| Project manager | Melissa Magerøy |
| Division | Division of Biotechnology and Plant Health |
| Department | Molecular Plant Biology |
| Total budget | 12000000 |
| Funding source | Forskningsrådet (Research Council of Norway) |
Publications in the project
Authors
Melissa MagerøyAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
EMF significantly enhance conifer growth under diverse experimental conditions. EMF effects on conifer stress resistance were not statistically significant. Field studies on EMF-conifer interactions remain scarce and needed.
Authors
Melissa MagerøyAbstract
No abstract has been registered
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No abstract has been registered
Authors
Marrian Tendai RwiziAbstract
ABSTRACT The dynamics of plant-microbiome interactions under different stress conditions are important to understand in order to elucidate the mechanisms underlying forest decline and tree mortality. This study aims to evaluate the importance of ectomycorrhizal fungi in alleviating stress and enhancing defense in Pinus and Picea species. A meta-analysis was performed on primary research articles that assessed effects of ectomycorrhizal fungal on growth and resistance of these tree species. The stress factors studied were drought, pathogen infection, herbivory and pollutant stress. A PRISMA systematic review guideline was used in screening the articles from the two databases Web of Science and SCOPUS. The search produced a total of 1 806 articles, which were further screened by excluding review articles, book chapters, conference papers and other papers that did not include Pinus or Picea species and ectomycorrhizal fungi. A total of 118 articles were assessed and the statistical analysis was conducted as per factor (growth, survival, biotic and abiotic stress). Most of the published articles were on Pinus and a few on Picea. Overall, ectomycorrhizal fungi were found to enhance growth but had no effect on survival, though the results are more confined to Pinus species. Ectomycorrhizal fungi were not effective in alleviating abiotic and biotic stress. There was high heterogeneity among papers and publication bias in the analysis. As a result my analysis did not provide a concrete conclusion in endorsing ectomycorrhizal fungi as promoting conifer growth, survival and resistance to biotic and abiotic stress. Further research is needed on conifer- soil feedbacks in relation to ectomycorrhizal fungi. Moreover, there is need for conducting more experiments in the field to enable the life strategies of ectomycorrhizal fungi to be brought into sharper focus. This is important because conifer species are of high economic value through producing high quality timber and plays a crucial role in mitigating climate change. Key words: Ectomycorrhizal fungi, Pinus, Picea, heterogeneity, publication bias, growth, survival, biotic and abiotic.
Authors
Melissa MagerøyAbstract
Epigenetic modification is an important mechanism that allows plants to rapidly adapt to changes in environment. This modification can provide long-term increased tolerance and resistance to abiotic and biotic stress and may even be transmittable to progeny. Knowledge on how epigenetic memory is established, maintained, triggered, and transmitted in plants with different evolutionary and life histories is important for understanding and utilizing epigenetic adaptation in plant protection. In this symposium, we welcome talks from those that provide insight into the molecular mechanism underlying epigenetic memory to those that present the practical aspects of implementing epigenetic adaptation in the field.
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No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Purpose of Review Forestry in northern temperate and boreal regions relies heavily on conifers. Rapid climate change and associated increases in adverse growing conditions predispose conifers to pathogens and pests. The much longer generation time and presumably, therefore, lower adaptive capacity of conifers relative to their native or non-native biotic stressors may have devastating consequences. We provide an updated overview of conifer defences underlying pathogen and pest resistance and discuss how defence traits can be used in tree breeding and forest management to improve resistance. Recent Findings Breeding of more resilient and stress-resistant trees will benefit from new genomic tools, such as genotyping arrays with increased genomic coverage, which will aid in genomic and relationship-based selection strategies. However, to successfully increase the resilience of conifer forests, improved genetic materials from breeding programs must be combined with more flexible and site-specific adaptive forest management. Summary Successful breeding programs to improve conifer resistance to pathogens and pests provide hope as well as valuable lessons: with a coordinated and sustained effort, increased resistance can be achieved. However, mechanisms underlying resistance against one stressor, even if involving many genes, may not provide any protection against other sympatric stressors. To maintain the adaptive capacity of conifer forests, it is important to keep high genetic diversity in the tree breeding programs. Choosing forest management options that include diversification of tree-species and forest structure and are coupled with the use of genetically improved plants and assisted migration is a proactive measure to increase forest resistance and resilience to foreseen and unanticipated biotic stressors in a changing climate.
Authors
Melissa MagerøyAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Melissa MagerøyAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Defense priming, the sensitization of inducible defenses, has been extensively studied in annual angiosperms. However, we are just beginning to explore defense priming in woody, long-lived plants. The natural compound methyl jasmonate (MeJA) has been used for over 20 years to study spruce inducible defenses. Recently, it was discovered that MeJA not only directly induces defense, but also primes defense responses in spruce. Metabolite and transcriptional analyses of mature trees treated with MeJA and subsequently wounded showed that while terpenes accumulate at the wound site in a primed manner, terpene biosynthesis genes are directly induced by MeJA. Pathogen resistance (PR) genes, on the other hand, are primed. Sequencing of miRNAs suggests that miRNAs have a regulatory role in MeJA-induced defenses in spruce. Additionally, a detailed transcriptional time course of 2- year-old spruce treated with MeJA indicated that the RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) pathway is involved in the establishment and maintenance of primed defenses. When comparing mechanisms of defense priming in spruce to those in Arabidopsis, it seems that many mechanisms are conserved. However, some aspects, such as jasmonic acid-salicylic acid crosstalk, may be different. Identifying these differences and how they affect forest species is important for practical application of defense priming in forest management.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Melissa MagerøyAbstract
No abstract has been registered