Profiling Temporal and Spatial Activities of Rhizobacteria
Authors:
Tomoya Honda1*, Gyorgy Babnigg2, Axel Visel1, Yasuo Yoshikuni1, Nigel Mouncey1, Paul Adams1
Institutions:
1DOE Joint Genome Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; 2Biosciences Division, Argonne National Laboratory
Abstract
Rhizobacteria play significant roles in influencing plants through symbiosis and virulence. However, there is limited understanding of rhizobacterial activities in the face of temporary and spatially changing environments within the rhizosphere. In this study, researchers aim to develop novel experimental approaches to characterize temporal and spatial activities of root-colonizing Pseudomonas strains. In the first project, the team developed a massively parallel reporter assay (MPRA), which employs DNA barcode as a reporter of promoter activity, in Pseudomonas simiae WCS417. This approach allowed researchers to characterize in planta promoter activities of P. simiae without the needs to remove overwhelming amount of plant RNA. In the second project, researchers are working on generating an engineered Pseudomonas putida KT2440 that harbors a chemoreceptor library. Using the developed strain, researchers aim to screen chemoreceptors functionally important for plant root colonization. These engineering strategies will be valuable to investigate plant-microbial interactions and may provide new insights to manipulate the microbial systems and enhance plant productivity.
Funding Information
This program is supported by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program (LBNL LDRD #24-085) and the U.S. DOE, Office of Science, through the Biomolecular Characterization and Imaging Sciences Program, BER Program, under FWP 39156.