Bibliographic Details
| Title: |
Order among chaos: High throughput MYCroplanters can distinguish interacting drivers of host infection in a highly stochastic system. |
| Authors: |
Chen, Melissa Y.1 (AUTHOR) melissa.c1010@gmail.com, Fulton, Leah M.1 (AUTHOR), Huang, Ivie1 (AUTHOR), Liman, Aileen1 (AUTHOR), Hossain, Sarzana S.1 (AUTHOR), Hamilton, Corri D.1 (AUTHOR), Song, Siyu1 (AUTHOR), Geissmann, Quentin1,2 (AUTHOR), King, Kayla C.1,3,4 (AUTHOR), Haney, Cara H.1,5 (AUTHOR) chh333@pitt.edu |
| Source: |
PLoS Pathogens. 2/11/2025, Vol. 21 Issue 2, p1-28. 28p. |
| Subject Terms: |
*PLANT diseases, *STOCHASTIC systems, *DISEASE susceptibility, *ARABIDOPSIS thaliana, *PLANT growth |
| Abstract: |
The likelihood that a host will be susceptible to infection is influenced by the interaction of diverse biotic and abiotic factors. As a result, substantial experimental replication and scalability are required to identify the contributions of and interactions between the host, the environment, and biotic factors such as the microbiome. For example, pathogen infection success is known to vary by host genotype, bacterial strain identity and dose, and pathogen dose. Elucidating the interactions between these factors in vivo has been challenging because testing combinations of these variables quickly becomes experimentally intractable. Here, we describe a novel high throughput plant growth system (MYCroplanters) to test how multiple host, non-pathogenic bacteria, and pathogen variables predict host health. Using an Arabidopsis-Pseudomonas host-microbe model, we found that host genotype and bacterial strain order of arrival predict host susceptibility to infection, but pathogen and non-pathogenic bacterial dose can overwhelm these effects. Host susceptibility to infection is therefore driven by complex interactions between multiple factors that can both mask and compensate for each other. However, regardless of host or inoculation conditions, the ratio of pathogen to non-pathogen emerged as a consistent correlate of disease. Our results demonstrate that high-throughput tools like MYCroplanters can isolate interacting drivers of host susceptibility to disease. Increasing the scale at which we can screen drivers of disease, such as microbiome community structure, will facilitate both disease predictions and treatments for medicine and agricultural applications. Author summary: Whether or not hosts are susceptible to pathogen infection depends on complex interactions between the host and the environment. To rapidly and scalably test the contributions of host, non-pathogen, pathogen, and environment in predicting plant disease, we created the MYCroplanter system. MYCroplanters are a high-throughput plant growth platform that allows cultivation of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana in 96-well arrays. Our tool is compatible with commercially available equipment and consumables, which means it can be used in tandem with high-throughput molecular tools like liquid handling robots and plate readers to design complex experimental set-ups. We use this system to demonstrate how pathogen establishment success is dependent on nuanced interactions between multiple host, non-pathogen, and pathogen variables. The sensitivity and scalability of our system offer the field of host-pathogen interactions an affordable way to conduct large-scale screens. The accessibility and flexibility of this tool will facilitate a new wave of research in predicting host health and disease, which can be leveraged to inform host treatment strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
|
Copyright of PLoS Pathogens is the property of Public Library of Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
| Database: |
Academic Search Complete |
|
Full text is not displayed to guests. |
Login for full access.
|
