Abstract
Microorganism and plant interactions are crucial for development and environmental adaptation. Plant growth promoting bacteria enhance agricultural productivity in a sustainable manner, while epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation regulate gene expression and adaptive responses. The objective of this study is to determine how DNA hypomethylation influences early interactions between maize (Zea mays) and the endophytic diazotrophic bacterium Herbaspirillum seropedicae, particularly regarding plant growth, metabolism, and the root microbiome. Treatment with the hypomethylating agent 5-azacytidine (5-azaC) altered maize root morphology without affecting bacterial growth. Inoculation with H. seropedicae promoted plant growth and bacterial colonisation in root mucilage, with higher accumulation in 5-azaC treated roots. Global methylation analysis showed that bacterial inoculation modulates cytosine methylation in a manner similar to 5-azaC, suggesting a role in epigenetic regulation. Gene expression analysis of DNA methylation machinery confirmed that hypomethylation drives plant-microbe interactions. Root microbiome profiling revealed that 5-azaC disrupted microbial composition, which was partially restored by bacterial inoculation. Proteomic analysis identified 1,818 proteins and highlighted significant changes in metabolic pathways, especially carbon metabolism and the citric acid cycle. These findings demonstrate that DNA hypomethylation combined with bacterial interaction profoundly affects cellular and metabolic processes and provide insights for sustainable agricultural practices through epigenetic and microbial modulation.
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Claims 11
Claim · model-written summary
5-azacytidine altered maize root morphology.
Zea maysNot reportedComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Treatment with the hypomethylating agent 5-azacytidine (5-azaC) altered maize root morphology without affecting bacterial growth.”
Claim · model-written summary
5-azacytidine did not affect bacterial growth.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Treatment with the hypomethylating agent 5-azacytidine (5-azaC) altered maize root morphology without affecting bacterial growth.”
Claim · model-written summary
H. seropedicae inoculation promoted maize growth.
- Treatment
- Inoculation with H. seropedicaee0
- Interactor
- H. seropedicaeHerbaspirillum seropedicaee0symbiont
- Outcome
- plant growthe0
- Direction
- promotede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Inoculation with H. seropedicae promoted plant growth and bacterial colonisation in root mucilage, with higher accumulation in 5-azaC treated roots.”
t0“maize”
Claim · model-written summary
H. seropedicae inoculation promoted colonisation of root mucilage.
- Treatment
- Inoculation with H. seropedicaee0
- Interactor
- H. seropedicaeHerbaspirillum seropedicaee0symbiont
- Outcome
- bacterial colonisation in root mucilagee0
- Direction
- promotede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Inoculation with H. seropedicae promoted plant growth and bacterial colonisation in root mucilage, with higher accumulation in 5-azaC treated roots.”
t0“maize”
Claim · model-written summary
Bacterial accumulation was higher in 5-azaC treated roots.
- Treatment
- 5-azaCe0
- Interactor
- H. seropedicaeHerbaspirillum seropedicaee0symbiont
- Outcome
- bacterial colonisation in root mucilagee0
- Direction
- highere0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Inoculation with H. seropedicae promoted plant growth and bacterial colonisation in root mucilage, with higher accumulation in 5-azaC treated roots.”
t0“maize”
Claim · model-written summary
Bacterial inoculation modulated cytosine methylation similarly to 5-azaC.
- Treatment
- bacterial inoculatione0
- Interactor
- H. seropedicaeHerbaspirillum seropedicaee1symbiont
- Outcome
- cytosine methylatione0
- Comparator
- 5-azaCe0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Global methylation analysis showed that bacterial inoculation modulates cytosine methylation in a manner similar to 5-azaC, suggesting a role in epigenetic regulation.”
t0“Maize‐Beneficial Bacteria Interactions”
e1“Inoculation with H. seropedicae promoted plant growth and bacterial colonisation in root mucilage, with higher accumulation in 5-azaC treated roots.”
Claim · model-written summary
DNA methylation gene expression supported a role for hypomethylation in plant-microbe interactions.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Gene expression analysis of DNA methylation machinery confirmed that hypomethylation drives plant-microbe interactions.”
t0“maize”
Claim · model-written summary
5-azaC disrupted the maize root microbial composition.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Root microbiome profiling revealed that 5-azaC disrupted microbial composition, which was partially restored by bacterial inoculation.”
t0“maize”
Claim · model-written summary
Bacterial inoculation partially restored maize root microbial composition.
- Treatment
- bacterial inoculatione0
- Interactor
- Herbaspirillum seropedicaeHerbaspirillum seropedicaee1symbiont
- Outcome
- microbial compositione0
- Direction
- partially restorede0
- Comparator
- 5-azaCe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Root microbiome profiling revealed that 5-azaC disrupted microbial composition, which was partially restored by bacterial inoculation.”
t0“Maize‐Beneficial Bacteria Interactions”
e1“the endophytic diazotrophic bacterium Herbaspirillum seropedicae”
Claim · model-written summary
Proteomic analysis identified 1,818 proteins.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Proteomic analysis identified 1,818 proteins and highlighted significant changes in metabolic pathways, especially carbon metabolism and the citric acid cycle.”
t0“maize”
Claim · model-written summary
Proteomic analysis found significant changes in carbon metabolism and the citric acid cycle.
- Outcome
- carbon metabolism and the citric acid cyclee0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Proteomic analysis identified 1,818 proteins and highlighted significant changes in metabolic pathways, especially carbon metabolism and the citric acid cycle.”
t0“maize”
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