An ERF transcription factor StPti5, a novel regulator of endophyte community maintenance in potato

In this study, we investigated the processes involved in colonization of potato with beneficial organisms. At the time of Bacillus subtilis biofilm establishment, immune responses in interacting roots were attenuated, and complex transcriptional network was triggered, with ethylene signalling being a central module and StPti5 strongly induced. Interestingly, the response was intensified if plants were inoculated by two antagonistic B. subtilis strains. When isogenic strains were combined, the resulting biofilm on the root contained similar abundances of each strain, with cells of each strain spatially well mixed. On the other hand, when non-kin strains were combined, we observed biofilm with segregation of the two strains. The abundance of Bacillus subtilis and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Rhizophagus irregularis was higher in StPti5-silenced plants. While StPti5 is not involved in the establishment of B. subtilis biofilm on roots, bacterial abundance increases in shoots of StPti5-silenced plants. Remarkably, root colonization by the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Rhizophagus irregularis was also higher in the StPti5-silenced plants. Thus, StPti5 is involved in limiting colonization of beneficial microbes. This dataset is a deposit of all raw confocal and TEM microscopy images of the study, complemented with a metadata.