Phenotype produced by the gaseous emissions of Clavispora lusitaniae MJ12 on the growth of Arabidopsis thaliana after 21 days of co-cultivation. Left: Control (not inoculated), Right: Inoculated with C. lusitaniae MJ12. Photo credit: Camarena-Pozos, David A.

Cells of C. lusitaniae MJ12 observed under the light microscope. Photo credit: Flores-Núñez, Víctor M

Clavispora lusitaniae MJ12 was isolated from the rhizosphere, but it is also commonly found in the phyllosphere of Agave salmiana in the natural populations found in Guanajuato, Mexico.

This yeast growing on PDA medium produces two main volatile compounds: 2-phenylethyl alcohol and 2-phenylethyl acetate (Camarena-Pozos et al., 2019 and Camarena-Pozos et al., submitted), being the first one capable of influencing plant growth in a dose-dependent manner in model plants (Arabidopsis thaliana and Nicotiana attenuata) and in Agave tequilana and A. salmiana.

References:

Camarena-Pozos DA, Flores-Núñez VM, López MG, López-Bucio J and Partida-Martínez LP*. Smells from the desert: Microbial volatiles that affect plant growth and development of native and non-native plant species. Plant, Cell & Environment (2019) 42: 1368-1380. doi:10.1111/pce.13476.

Camarena-Pozos DA, Flores-Núñez VM, López MG and Partida-Martínez LP*. Fungal volatiles emitted by members of the microbiome of desert plants are diverse and capable of promoting plant growth. Environmental Microbiology. Submitted.