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Global climate change is increasing temperatures worldwide, which greatly affects all biological relationships. Plant and soil ecosystems are also suffering in this new scenario, especially in semi-arid areas where water resources are limited. Regarding agricultural crops, temperatures that increase dramatically negatively affect fruit production and quality, making it mandatory to find sustainable practices to cope with these new situations. Symbiotic microorganisms in general and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in particular have been revealed as promising methods of alleviating stress that are respectful of the environment and soil equilibrium. In this work, we demonstrate the suitability of an ultra-pure, in vitro-issued arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculant for alleviating severe heat stress when applied to three important agricultural crops (tomato: Solanum lycopersicum L.; pepper: Capiscum annuum L.; cucumber: Cucumis sativus L.) under agronomic conditions. Inoculated plants had greatly improved endurance under heat stress because of increased vigor, productivity, and fruit quality. Considering the actual scenario of global climate change, our results shed a light of hope and indicate more sustainable cultivation practices adapted to global change.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are critical participants in plant nutrition in natural ecosystems and in sustainable agriculture. A large proportion of the phosphorus, nitrogen, sulfur, and transition metal elements that the host plant requires are obtained from the soil by the fungal mycelium and released at the arbuscules in exchange for photosynthates. While many of the plant transporters responsible for obtaining macronutrients at the periarbuscular space have been characterized, the identities of those mediating transition metal uptake remain unknown. In this work, MtCOPT2 has been identified as the only member of the copper transporter family COPT in the model legume Medicago truncatula to be specifically expressed in mycorrhizal roots. Fusing a C-terminal GFP tag to MtCOPT2 expressed under its own promoter showed a distribution pattern that corresponds with arbuscule distribution in the roots. When expressed in tobacco leaves, MtCOPT2-GFP co-localizes with a plasma membrane marker. MtCOPT2 is intimately related to the rhizobial nodule-specific MtCOPT1, which is suggestive of a shared evolutionary lineage that links transition metal nutrition in the two main root endosymbioses in legumes.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are critical participants in plant nutrition in natural ecosystems and in sustainable agriculture. A large proportion of the phosphorus, nitrogen, sulfur, and transition metal elements that the host plant requires are obtained from the soil by the fungal mycelium and released at the arbuscules in exchange for photosynthates. While many of the plant transporters responsible for obtaining macronutrients at the periarbuscular space have been characterized, the identities of those mediating transition metal uptake remain unknown. In this work, MtCOPT2 has been identified as the only member of the copper transporter family COPT in the model legume Medicago truncatula to be specifically expressed in mycorrhizal roots. Fusing a C-terminal GFP tag to MtCOPT2 expressed under its own promoter showed a distribution pattern that corresponds with arbuscule distribution in the roots. When expressed in tobacco leaves, MtCOPT2-GFP co-localizes with a plasma membrane marker. MtCOPT2 is intimately related to the rhizobial nodule-specific MtCOPT1, which is suggestive of a shared evolutionary lineage that links transition metal nutrition in the two main root endosymbioses in legumes., This research was funded by a European Research Council Starting Grant (ERC-2013-StG-335284) to MGG. IA is the recipient of a Juan de la Cierva -Formación- postdoctoral fellowship from Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (FJCI-2017-33222). VE was partially funded by the Severo Ochoa Programme for Centres of Excellence in R&D from Agencia Estatal de Investigación of Spain (grant SEV-2016-0672) received by Centro de Biotecnología y Genómica de Plantas (UPM-INIA).