Student Major/Year in School
Biology/ Pre-Vet, third year
Faculty Mentor Information
Tom Platt, Division of Biology, College of Arts and Science
Abstract
Agrobacterial Diversity and Competitive Interactions Within an Infected Sunflower
Veronica E. Mateo, Kansas State University
Faculty Advisor/Mentor: Thomas Platt, Ph.D., tgplatt@ksu.edu
Co-Author(s): Emireth Monarrez, Seward County Community College; Priscila Guzman, Kansas State University; Ashlee Herken, Kansas State University; Teresa Shippy, Kansas State University
Bacterial communities are highly diverse with each being distinct in composition. Agrobacterium tumefaciens is a common soilborne plant pathogen. Some A. tumefaciens strains can cause crown gall disease, in which infected plants develop a tumor. This bacterium disrupts the host plant by genetically transforming plant cells thereby manipulating the plant’s physiology to benefit the pathogen. Competitive interactions between this pathogen and other agrobacteria present in a plant’s microbiome can influence the establishment and persistence of this pathogen. Our goal during this research is to characterize the diversity of agrobacteria in the rhizosphere of common sunflowers, Helianthus annuus, and determine how often agrobacteria that antagonize the pathogen are present on plants. To do this, we collected 20 H. annuus root samples from Konza Prairie. Three of these plants had visible root galls, while the remaining plants appeared healthy. We plated soil washed from these roots onto semi-selective media to isolate biovar 1 agrobacteria. This media inhibits most rhizosphere microbes from growing but supports the growth of agrobacteria as black, shiny colonies. We then used a biochemical test to validate these isolates as likely biovar 1 agrobacteria before streak purifying and preserving 360 isolates from these plants. We are characterizing the phenotypic and genetic attributes of these agrobacterial isolates. We are using PCR to amplify and subsequently sequence the recA locus of the isolates from an infected sunflower to determine if one or several agrobacterial genotypes colonized the infected plant. We will use a phylogenetic analysis that includes representatives of all 11 of the known genomovars of A. tumefaciens to determine which group or groups of agrobacteria are present. In the future, we would like to examine if co-occurring genotypes significantly impact each other’s fitness.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Recommended Citation
Mateo, Veronica (2019). "Agrobacterial Diversity and Competitive Interactions Within an Infected Sunflower," Kansas State University Undergraduate Research Conference. https://newprairiepress.org/ksuugradresearch/2019/posters/11
Included in
Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons
Agrobacterial Diversity and Competitive Interactions Within an Infected Sunflower
Agrobacterial Diversity and Competitive Interactions Within an Infected Sunflower
Veronica E. Mateo, Kansas State University
Faculty Advisor/Mentor: Thomas Platt, Ph.D., tgplatt@ksu.edu
Co-Author(s): Emireth Monarrez, Seward County Community College; Priscila Guzman, Kansas State University; Ashlee Herken, Kansas State University; Teresa Shippy, Kansas State University
Bacterial communities are highly diverse with each being distinct in composition. Agrobacterium tumefaciens is a common soilborne plant pathogen. Some A. tumefaciens strains can cause crown gall disease, in which infected plants develop a tumor. This bacterium disrupts the host plant by genetically transforming plant cells thereby manipulating the plant’s physiology to benefit the pathogen. Competitive interactions between this pathogen and other agrobacteria present in a plant’s microbiome can influence the establishment and persistence of this pathogen. Our goal during this research is to characterize the diversity of agrobacteria in the rhizosphere of common sunflowers, Helianthus annuus, and determine how often agrobacteria that antagonize the pathogen are present on plants. To do this, we collected 20 H. annuus root samples from Konza Prairie. Three of these plants had visible root galls, while the remaining plants appeared healthy. We plated soil washed from these roots onto semi-selective media to isolate biovar 1 agrobacteria. This media inhibits most rhizosphere microbes from growing but supports the growth of agrobacteria as black, shiny colonies. We then used a biochemical test to validate these isolates as likely biovar 1 agrobacteria before streak purifying and preserving 360 isolates from these plants. We are characterizing the phenotypic and genetic attributes of these agrobacterial isolates. We are using PCR to amplify and subsequently sequence the recA locus of the isolates from an infected sunflower to determine if one or several agrobacterial genotypes colonized the infected plant. We will use a phylogenetic analysis that includes representatives of all 11 of the known genomovars of A. tumefaciens to determine which group or groups of agrobacteria are present. In the future, we would like to examine if co-occurring genotypes significantly impact each other’s fitness.
