Regassa Girmaye Benti, Zhang Yuxian, Shen Yifan, Zhang Liwei, Zhang Jiating, Liu Yinzhan, Li Guoyong, Xiao Rui, Yang Zhongling
International Joint Research Laboratory for Global Change Ecology, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan, China.
Xiaoqinling Ecological Restoration Field Observation and Research Station of the Yellow River Basin, Henan University, Kaifeng, China.
Front Microbiol. 2025 Jun 24;16:1612341. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1612341. eCollection 2025.
Water Use Efficiency (WUE) is one of the critical indicators to characterize plant adaptation to arid environments, however, the effects of pathogens infection and symbiosis on WUE are not considered in contexts of water stress.
A study was conducted in a greenhouse pot to examine the effects of changed soil water conditions on instantaneous Water Use Efficiency (WUE) and long-term Water Use Efficiency (WUE) under inoculation , inoculation sp., and co-inoculation and sp.
The results showed that inoculation sp. and co-inoculation and sp. reduced WUE by increasing net photosynthetic rate without drought. Inoculation sp. and co-inoculation and sp. reduced WUE by decreasing plant height with drought. Inoculation and sp. significantly reduced WUE by lowering intercellular CO concentration without drought. Inoculation reduced WUE by increasing root nodule number with drought. In contrast, drought had no effect on either WUE or WUE without inoculation.
The results suggest that sp. infection is detrimental to instantaneous Water Use Efficiency while inoculation is unfavorable to long-term Water Use Efficiency, regardless of drought effects. Our findings provide a new insight for developing effective water use strategies after pathogen infection or symbiosis under increased precipitation scenarios.
水分利用效率（WUE）是表征植物对干旱环境适应性的关键指标之一，然而，在水分胁迫情况下，未考虑病原体感染和共生对水分利用效率的影响。
在温室盆栽中进行了一项研究，以检验接种、接种sp.以及共接种和sp.情况下，土壤水分条件变化对瞬时水分利用效率（WUE）和长期水分利用效率（WUE）的影响。
结果表明，接种sp.和共接种和sp.在无干旱情况下通过提高净光合速率降低了WUE。接种sp.和共接种和sp.在干旱情况下通过降低株高降低了WUE。接种和sp.在无干旱情况下通过降低细胞间CO浓度显著降低了WUE。接种在干旱情况下通过增加根瘤数量降低了WUE。相比之下，干旱对接种或未接种情况下的WUE或WUE均无影响。
结果表明，无论干旱影响如何，sp.感染对瞬时水分利用效率有害，而接种对长期水分利用效率不利。我们的研究结果为在降水增加情景下病原体感染或共生后制定有效的水分利用策略提供了新的见解。
