Dark septate endophytes (DSEs) are fungi that colonize plant roots and are characterized by high melanin concentrations in their hyphae. The melanization in plant-DSE associations may be advantageous and a response to various biotic and abiotic stress factors. It is also likely that melanin plays a role in the penetration of the root surface by fungal hyphae and subsequent colonization of the root cortex.
In this French-German collaborative project, the melanization process in a DSE model is being investigated by four partners using complementary genetic, pharmacological, physicochemical, physiological, and omics approaches. The four research groups have complementary expertise in plant-microorganism interactions, ecology, multi-omic analyses, and bioinformatics. Special techniques and topics include genetic transformation of DSEs and atomic force microscopy (University of Lorraine), miRNA analyses and metal stress (University of Burgundy Franche-Comté), epigenetics and RNAseq analyses (University of Applied Sciences Erfurt), and interactions between fungi and mycoparasites (University of Applied Sciences Wismar).
The results aim to harness this important fungal resource for sustainable and economically viable plant production. Consequently, the project's findings will be disseminated within the scientific community and among stakeholders in agriculture, horticulture, and forestry.
