Microbiome  volume 12, Article number: 156 (2024)

Abstract

Background

Microbes colonizing each compartment of terrestrial plants are indispensable for maintaining crop health. Although corn stalk rot (CSR) is a severe disease affecting maize ( Zea mays ) worldwide, the mechanisms underlying host–microbe interactions across vertical compartments in maize plants, which exhibit heterogeneous CSR-resistance, remain largely uncharacterized.

Results

Here, we investigated the microbial communities associated with CSR-resistant and CSR-susceptible maize cultivars using multi-omics analysis coupled with experimental verification. Maize cultivars resistant to CSR reshaped the microbiota and recruited  Bacillus  species with three phenotypes against  Fusarium graminearum  including niche pre-emption, potential secretion of antimicrobial compounds, and no inhibition to alleviate pathogen stress. By inducing the expression of  Tyrosine decarboxylase 1  ( TYDC1 ), encoding an enzyme that catalyzes the production of tyramine and dopamine,  Bacillus  isolates that do not directly suppress pathogen infection induced the synthesis of berberine, an isoquinoline alkaloid that inhibits pathogen growth. These beneficial bacteria were recruited from the rhizosphere and transferred to the stems but not grains of the CSR-resistant plants.

Conclusions

The current study offers insight into how maize plants respond to and interact with their microbiome and lays the foundation for preventing and treating soil-borne pathogens.

Microbiome，IF=13.8

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1360138524002139?via%3Dihub