DOI: 10.5061/dryad.8f66s
title: Data from: Multiple mutualist effects on genomewide expression in the tripartite association between Medicago truncatula, nitrogen-fixing bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi

description: While all species interact with multiple mutualists, the fitness
 consequences and molecular mechanisms underlying these interactions remain
 largely unknown. We combined factorial ecological experiments with
 genomewide expression analyses to examine the phenotypic and
 transcriptomic responses of model legume Medicago truncatula to rhizobia
 and mycorrhizal fungi. We found synergistic effects of these mutualists on
 plant performance and examined unique features of plant gene expression
 responses to multiple mutualists. There were genomewide signatures of
 mutualists and multiple mutualists on expression, with partners often
 affecting unique sets of genes. Mycorrhizal fungi had stronger effects on
 plant expression than rhizobia, with 70% of differentially expressed genes
 affected by fungi. Fungal and bacterial mutualists had joint effects on
 10% of differentially expressed genes, including unexpected, nonadditive
 effects on some genes with important functions such as nutrient
 metabolism. For a subset of genes, interacting with multiple mutualists
 even led to reversals in the direction of expression (shifts from up to
 downregulation) compared to interacting with single mutualists. Rhizobia
 also affected the expression of several mycorrhizal genes, including those
 involved in nutrient transfer to host plants, indicating that partner
 species can also impact each other's molecular phenotypes.
 Collectively, these data illustrate the diverse molecular mechanisms and
 transcriptional responses associated with the synergistic benefits of
 multiple mutualists.
description: Harvest Data - Plant
 biomass and rhizobia nodule dataHarvest data for
 experiment looking at effects of rhizobia and mycorrhizal fungi on plant
 mass and rhizobia nodules. Column Names -- "Block" is a number
 1-5 that represents the spatial block in which the plant is located within
 the greenhouse, "Plant_ID" is a unique number used to identify
 each plant in the experiment, "Myco_fungi" and
 "Rhizobia" indicates the presence (+) or absence (-) of
 mycorrhizal fungi and rhizobia treatments, "Shoot_mass" and
 "Root_mass" are the aboveground and belowground biomasses of the
 plants at harvest, and "Nodule_count" and
 "Nodule_mass" provide the number and mass of rhizobia nodules.
 Note that almost all plants have aboveground data while many lack
 belowground data, which is because roots of half the plants were flash
 frozen and homogenized for RNA-Seq and expression
 analysis.transcript harvest file 8-4-16
 to submit to dryad.csvLeaf and Branch
 DataData for experiment
 looking at effects of rhizobia and mycorrhizal fungi on plants trifoliate
 leaf number and branch number. Column Names -- "Block" is a
 number 1-5 that represents the spatial block in which the plant is
 located, "Plant_ID" is a unique number used to identify each
 plant in the experiment, "Myco_fungi" and "Rhizobia"
 indicates the presence (+) or absence (-) of mycorrhizal fungi and
 rhizobia treatments, "#_Branches" and
 "#_Trifoliate_Leaves" are counts of total number of plant
 branches and leaves , and "Week" indicates the week
 post-inoculation that the data was collected. Note that data was collected
 at three time points.transcript week file 8-4-16 to
 submit to dryad.csv