Mucilage produced by aerial roots hosts diazotrophs that provide nitrogen in Sorghum bicolor

Venado, Rafael E.; Wilker, Jennifer; Pankievicz, Vânia C. S.; Infante, Valentina; MacIntyre, April; Wolf, Emily S. A.; Vela, Saddie; Robbins, Fletcher; Fernandes-Júnior, Paulo Ivan; Vermerris, Wilfred; Ané, Jean-Michel; Dong, ed., Xinnian

doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.3003037

Mucilage produced by aerial roots hosts diazotrophs that provide nitrogen in Sorghum bicolor

Journal Article · Mon Mar 03 00:00:00 EST 2025 · PLoS Biology (Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003037· OSTI ID:2526291

Venado, Rafael E.; Wilker, Jennifer; Pankievicz, Vânia C. S.; Infante, Valentina; MacIntyre, April; Wolf, Emily S. A.; Vela, Saddie; Robbins, Fletcher; Fernandes-Júnior, Paulo Ivan; Vermerris, Wilfred; ; Dong, ed., Xinnian

Sorghum ( Sorghum bicolor ) is an important food, feed, and fodder crop worldwide and is gaining popularity as an energy crop due to its high potential for biomass production. Some sorghum accessions develop many aerial roots and produce an abundant carbohydrate-rich mucilage after rain. This aerial root mucilage is similar to that observed in landraces of maize ( Zea mays ) from southern Mexico, which have been previously shown to host diazotrophs. In this study, we characterized the aerial root development of several sorghum accessions and the impact of humidity on this trait. We conducted a microbiome study of the aerial root mucilage of maize and sorghum and isolated numerous diazotrophs from field sorghum mucilage. We observed that the prevailing phyla in the mucilage were Pseudomonadota, Bacteroidota, and Bacillota. However, bacterial abundances varied based on the genotype and the location. Using acetylene reduction, ¹⁵ N ₂ gas feeding, and ¹⁵ N isotope dilution assays, we confirmed that these sorghum accessions can acquire about 40% of their nitrogen from the atmosphere through these associations on aerial roots. Nitrogen fixation in sorghum aerial root mucilage offers a promising avenue to reduce reliance on synthetic fertilizers and promote sustainable agricultural practices for food, feed, fodder, and bioenergy production.

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Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0021052

OSTI ID:: 2526291

Journal Information:: PLoS Biology (Online), Journal Name: PLoS Biology (Online) Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 23; ISSN 1545-7885

Publisher:: Public Library of Science (PLoS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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