ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE published: 24 October 2014 doi: 10.3389/fpls.2014.00579 Newly identified helper bacteria stimulate ectomycorrhizal formation in Populus Jessy L. Labbé*, David J. Weston , Nora Dunkirk , Dale A. Pelletier and Gerald A. Tuskan Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA Edited by: Mycorrhiza helper bacteria (MHB) are known to increase host root colonization by Brigitte Mauch-Mani, Université de mycorrhizal fungi but the molecular mechanisms and potential tripartite interactions are Neuchâtel, Switzerland poorly understood. Through an effort to study Populus microbiome, we isolated 21 Reviewed by: Pseudomonas strains from native Populus deltoides roots. These bacterial isolates were Dale Ronald Walters, Scottish Agricultural College, Scotland characterized and screened for MHB effectiveness on the Populus-Laccaria system. Two Ana Pineda, Wageningen University, additional Pseudomonas strains (i.e., Pf-5 and BBc6R8) from existing collections were Netherlands included for comparative purposes. We analyzed the effect of co-cultivation of these *Correspondence: 23 individual Pseudomonas strains on Laccaria bicolor “S238N” growth rate, mycelial Jessy L. Labbé, Biosciences architecture and transcriptional changes. Nineteen of the 23 Pseudomonas strains tested Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box 2008, had positive effects on L. bicolor S238N growth, as well as on mycelial architecture, with MS-6407, Oak Ridge, TN strains GM41 and GM18 having the most significant effect. Four of seven L. bicolor 37831-6407, USA reporter genes, Tra1, Tectonin2, Gcn5, and Cipc1, thought to be regulated during the e-mail:
[email protected] interaction with MHB strain BBc6R8, were induced or repressed, while interacting with Pseudomonas strains GM17, GM33, GM41, GM48, Pf-5, and BBc6R8.