PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Drought changes rice root microbiome

Drought changes rice root microbiome
2021-07-22
(Press-News.org) Drought can have a lasting impact on the community of microbes that live in and around roots of rice plants, a team led by UC Davis researchers has found. Root-associated microbes help plants take up nutrients from the soil, so the finding could help in understanding how rice responds to dry spells and how it can be made more resilient to drought. The work is published July 22 in Nature Plants.

The root microbiome of irrigated rice plants goes through a sequence of changes as the plants grow and stabilizes when they flower. The sequence of changes in the root microbiome is consistent for a particular rice strain and geographic location. Previous work has shown that when a growing rice plant is deprived of water, it hits pause on the succession of changes in the root microbiome.

Venkatesan Sundaresan, distinguished professor of plant biology in the UC Davis College of Biological Sciences and colleagues looked at changes in rice root microbes over time when plants were deprived of water for 11, 21 or 33 days. This kind of intermittent drought condition is more common in rain-fed crops than terminal drought, Sundaresan said.

As expected, the microbe community changes when water is taken away. More surprising is that the changes persisted for weeks after plants were watered again.

"Rice plants carry a 'memory' of the drought episode in their root microbiota, so that plants that have experienced drought can be distinguished solely on the basis of their microbiomes," Sundaresan said.

Promoting root growth

The team was able to culture and sequence the most abundant of these persistent microbes. It was a species of Streptomyces that promotes growth of plant roots, a classic response to drought. The bacteria's DNA includes genetic code similar to plant genes for the growth hormone auxin.

"The persistence of changes to the microbiome means that root elongation continues even after drought has ended. This allows the roots to be better prepared to tap deep water," Sundaresan said. For some drought tolerant rice cultivars, after a drought episode, the roots will continue to grow long enough to penetrate the hardpan, he said.

The persistent changes also mean that the microbiome response will be more rapid the next time drought hits, because it is altered from the first drought.

As extreme climate events become more common, crops are likely to experience more intermittent droughts, the authors note. Understanding what makes plants more resilient to drought conditions could help reduce crop losses.

INFORMATION:

Additional authors on the paper are Christian Santos-Medellin, Zachary Liechty, Joseph Edwards and Bao Nguyen, UC Davis Department of Plant Biology; and Bihua Huang and Bart Weimer, Department of Population Health and Reproduction, 100K Pathogen Genome Project, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. Sundaresan also has a faculty appointment in the Department of Plant Sciences, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

The work was supported by grants from the NSF and U.S. Department of Agriculture.


[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Drought changes rice root microbiome

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Land repair vital for survival

Land repair vital for survival
2021-07-22
Restoration of degraded drylands is urgently needed to mitigate climate change, reverse desertification and secure livelihoods for the two billion people who live there, experts warn in a major new paper in Nature Ecology & Evolution. Scientists leading the Global Arid Zone Project examined restoration seeding outcomes at 174 sites on six continents, encompassing 594,065 observations of 671 plant species - with the lessons learned important to meeting ambitious future restoration targets. Flinders University Dr Martin Breed, one of three Australian researchers who helped coordinate ...

DeepMind and EMBL release the most complete database of predicted 3D structures of human proteins

DeepMind and EMBL release the most complete database of  predicted 3D structures of human proteins
2021-07-22
LONDON, 22 July 2021 - DeepMind today announced its partnership with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Europe's flagship laboratory for the life sciences, to make the most complete and accurate database yet of predicted protein structure models for the human proteome. This will cover all ~20,000 proteins expressed by the human genome, and the data will be freely and openly available to the scientific community. The database and artificial intelligence system provide structural biologists with powerful new tools for examining a protein's three-dimensional structure, and offer a treasure trove of data that could unlock future advances and herald a new era for AI-enabled biology. AlphaFold's recognition in December 2020 by the ...

Newly-hatched pterosaurs may have been able to fly

Newly-hatched pterosaurs may have been able to fly
2021-07-22
Newly-hatched pterosaurs may have been able to fly but their flying abilities may have been different from adult pterosaurs, according to a new study. Pterosaurs were a group of flying reptiles that lived during the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods (228 to 66 million years ago). Due to the rarity of fossilised pterosaur eggs and embryos, and difficulties distinguishing between hatchlings and small adults, it has been unclear whether newly-hatched pterosaurs were able to fly. Researchers from the Universities of Portsmouth and Bristol, along with palaeontologist Darren Naish, found that hatchling humerus bones were stronger than those of many adult pterosaurs, indicating ...

A rock with many perspectives

A rock with many perspectives
2021-07-22
The Alum Shale of Northern Europe not only has an eventful history of formation, connected with the microcontinent Baltica, it also holds great potential as an object of investigation for future research questions. Geologists use the rock to reconstruct processes of oil and gas formation, and even possible traces of past life on Mars can be identified with its help. Researchers at the German Research Centre for Geosciences Potsdam GFZ, together with colleagues from Canada, China, Switzerland and Denmark, have summarised the state of knowledge about the multi-layered rock. Their article was published in July in the journal Earth-Science Reviews. The Microcontinent Baltica "This rock tells a story," says Hans-Martin Schulz when he talks about the Northern European Alum Shale. It is ...

New study reveals previously unseen star formation in milky way

2021-07-22
Astronomers using two of the world's most powerful radio telescopes have made a detailed and sensitive survey of a large segment of our home galaxy -- the Milky Way -- detecting previously unseen tracers of massive star formation, a process that dominates galactic ecosystems. The scientists combined the capabilities of the National Science Foundation's Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) and the 100-meter Effelsberg Telescope in Germany to produce high-quality data that will serve researchers for years to come. Stars with more than about ten times the mass of our Sun are important components of the Galaxy ...

New insight on the reproductive evolution of land plants

New insight on the reproductive evolution of land plants
2021-07-22
Around 470 million years ago, plants began to conquer the terrestrial surfaces. The first examples had a small axis terminated by a structure capable of forming spores, almost like current mosses. The appearance of plant organs mediated the explosive radiation of land plants, which shaped the surface of our planet and allowed the establishment of terrestrial animal life. However, evolving such a diversity of organs, such as roots, leaves, or immobile gametes, requires coordinated genetic changes: rise of new genes, repurpose of genetic material, and development of new regulatory programs. In a study published in Nature Plants, a consortium ...

Unlocking genetic clues behind aortic aneurysm

2021-07-22
A new study increases knowledge of the genetics behind aortic aneurysm, a disease that can spark life-threatening events like aortic dissections and ruptures. University of Michigan Health-led researchers compared blood samples from more than 1,300 people who had a thoracic aortic aneurysm with more than 18,000 control samples, in partnership with U-M's Cardiovascular Health Improvement Project and its Michigan Genomics Initiative. "After examining nearly the entire human genome for genetic changes that increase risk of aneurysm, we discovered a new change in the genetic code of a transcription factor, ...

Survival after cardiac arrest - Freiburg cardiovascular surgeons develop new technique

2021-07-22
Around 50,000 people suffer sudden cardiac arrest in Germany every year. When occurring outside a hospital, the chances of survival are only ten percent. Survivors often suffer from severe permanent neurological damage. On July 21st, 2021, researchers from the Faculty of Medicine - University of Freiburg, Germany, published together with German and US colleagues a review article in the journal Nature Reviews Neuroscience. They describe the most important therapeutic factors for successful resuscitation. The scientists name the therapy concept based on these factors ...

Surgeons endorse efforts to improve firearm safety and reduce firearm-related injuries

2021-07-22
Key Takeaways A survey of American College of Surgeons members found almost two-thirds treat firearm injuries and more than 85 percent support the organization advocating for policies to reduce firearm-related injuries. Forty-two percent of ACS members keep firearms in their homes and nearly one-third (32 percent) of surgeon firearm owners store firearms unlocked and loaded. Survey findings will enable the ACS to identify ways to engage all members, including gun owners, and advocate for initiatives that prevent firearm-related injuries. CHICAGO (July 22, 2021): In what may be the largest survey of physician attitudes about firearms and how firearm-owning surgeons store guns in their homes, U.S. members of the American College of Surgeons ...

Scientists reverse age-related memory loss in mice

2021-07-22
Scientists at Cambridge and Leeds have successfully reversed age-related memory loss in mice and say their discovery could lead to the development of treatments to prevent memory loss in people as they age. In a study published today in Molecular Psychiatry, the team show that changes in the extracellular matrix of the brain - 'scaffolding' around nerve cells - lead to loss of memory with ageing, but that it is possible to reverse these using genetic treatments. Recent evidence has emerged of the role of perineuronal nets (PNNs) in neuroplasticity - the ability of the brain to learn and adapt - and to make memories. ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Genetic causes of cerebral palsy uncovered through whole-genome sequencing

Modesty and boastfulness – perception depends on usual performance

Do sweeteners increase your appetite? New evidence from randomised controlled trial says no 

Women with obesity do not need to gain weight during pregnancy, new study suggests

Individuals with multiple sclerosis face substantially greater risk of hospitalisation and death from COVID-19, despite high rates of vaccination

Study shows obesity in childhood associated with a more than doubling of risk of developing multiple sclerosis in early adulthood

Rice Emerging Scholars Program receives $2.5M NSF grant to boost STEM education

Virtual rehabilitation provides benefits for stroke recovery

Generative AI develops potential new drugs for antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Biofuels could help island nations survive a global catastrophe, study suggests

NJIT research team discovering how fluids behave in nanopores with NSF grant

New study shows association of historical housing discrimination and shortfalls in colon cancer treatment

Social media use may help to empower plastic surgery patients

Q&A: How to train AI when you don't have enough data

Wayne State University researchers uncover potential treatment targets for Zika virus-related eye abnormalities

Discovering Van Gogh in the wild: scientists unveil a new gecko species

Small birds spice up the already diverse diet of spotted hyenas in Namibia

Imaging detects transient “hypoxic pockets” in the mouse brain

Dissolved organic matter could be used to track and improve the health of freshwaters

Indoor air quality standards in public buildings would boost health and economy, say international experts

Positive associations between premenstrual disorders and perinatal depression

New imaging method illuminates oxygen's journey in the brain

Researchers discover key gene for toxic alkaloid in barley

New approach to monitoring freshwater quality can identify sources of pollution, and predict their effects

Bidirectional link between premenstrual disorders and perinatal depression

Cell division quality control ‘stopwatch’ uncovered

Vaccine protects cattle from bovine tuberculosis, may eliminate disease

Andrew Siemion to receive the SETI Institute’s 2024 Drake Award

New study shows how the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus enters our cells

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy proves effective for locally advanced penile squamous cell carcinoma

[Press-News.org] Drought changes rice root microbiome