Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Sep 19;14(9):e0222788.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0222788. eCollection 2019.

Additive and heterozygous (dis)advantage GWAS models reveal candidate genes involved in the genotypic variation of maize hybrids to Azospirillum brasilense

Miriam Suzane Vidotti  1 , Danilo Hottis Lyra  2 , Júlia Silva Morosini  1 , Ítalo Stefanine Correia Granato  3 , Maria Carolina Quecine  1 , João Lúcio de Azevedo  1 , Roberto Fritsche-Neto  1
Affiliations

Additive and heterozygous (dis)advantage GWAS models reveal candidate genes involved in the genotypic variation of maize hybrids to Azospirillum brasilense

Miriam Suzane Vidotti et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Maize genotypes can show different responsiveness to inoculation with Azospirillum brasilense and an intriguing issue is which genes of the plant are involved in the recognition and growth promotion by these Plant Growth-Promoting Bacteria (PGPB). We conducted Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) using additive and heterozygous (dis)advantage models to find candidate genes for root and shoot traits under nitrogen (N) stress and N stress plus A. brasilense. A total of 52,215 Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) markers were used for GWAS analyses. For the six root traits with significant inoculation effect, the GWAS analyses revealed 25 significant SNPs for the N stress plus A. brasilense treatment, in which only two were overlapped with the 22 found for N stress only. Most were found by the heterozygous (dis)advantage model and were more related to exclusive gene ontology terms. Interestingly, the candidate genes around the significant SNPs found for the maize-A. brasilense association were involved in different functions previously described for PGPB in plants (e.g. signaling pathways of the plant's defense system and phytohormone biosynthesis). Our findings are a benchmark in the understanding of the genetic variation among maize hybrids for the association with A. brasilense and reveal the potential for further enhancement of maize through this association.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Density distributions and Pearson correlations of the phenotypic data.
(A) Density distribution and box plot of the maize hybrids adjusted means under N stress and N stress plus A. brasilense. (B) Density distribution of the Δ (difference between adjusted means of inoculated and non-inoculated treatments). (C) Pearson correlations between Δ values.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Population structure and genomic data.
(A) Population structure of the 118 maize hybrids revealed by the first two principal components of 59,215 SNP markers. (B) LD decay across the whole genome. (C) and (D) heterozygosity of individuals and markers, respectively.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Candidate genes found by different GWAS models for N stress and N stress plus Azospirillum brasilense.
(A) Venn diagrams showing the unique and shared significant SNPs. (B) Enriched GO terms.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Fukami J, Ollero FJ, Megías M, Hungria M. Phytohormones and induction of plant-stress tolerance and defense genes by seed and foliar inoculation with Azospirillum brasilense cells and metabolites promote maize growth. AMB Express. 2017; 7: 153 10.1186/s13568-017-0453-7 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Fukami J, Ollero FJ, de la Osa C, Valderrama-Fernández R, Nogueira MA, Megías M, et al. Antioxidant activity and induction of mechanisms of resistance to stresses related to the inoculation with Azospirillum brasilense. Arch Microbiol. 2018; 200: 1191–1203. 10.1007/s00203-018-1535-x - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cassán F, Diaz-Zorita M. Azospirillum sp. in current agriculture: From the laboratory to the field. Soil Biol Biochem. 2016; 103: 117–130. 10.1016/j.soilbio.2016.08.020 - DOI
    1. Carvalho TLG, Ballesteros HGF, Thiebaut F, Ferreira PCG, Hemerly AS. Nice to meet you: genetic, epigenetic and metabolic controls of plant perception of beneficial associative and endophytic diazotrophic bacteria in non-leguminous plants. Plant Mol Biol. 2016; 90: 561–574. 10.1007/s11103-016-0435-1 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cunha FN, Silva NF da, Ribeiro Rodrigues C, Alves Morais W, Ferreira Gomes FH, Filho Lopes, Luiz C, et al. Performance of different genotypes of maize subjected to inoculation with Azospirillum brasilense. African J Agric Res. 2016; 11: 3853–3862. 10.5897/AJAR2016.11496 - DOI

Publication types