AUTHOR=Zhang Kang , Wang Liming , Si Helong , Guo Hao , Liu Jianhu , Jia Jiao , Su Qianfu , Wang Yanbo , Zang Jinping , Xing Jihong , Dong Jingao 

TITLE=Maize stalk rot caused by Fusarium graminearum alters soil microbial composition and is directly inhibited by Bacillus siamensis isolated from rhizosphere soil

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.986401

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2022.986401

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Maize stalk rot caused by <italic>Fusarium graminearum</italic> can reduce the yield of maize and efficiency of mechanized harvesting. Besides, deoxynivalenol and zearalenone toxins produced by <italic>F. graminearum</italic> can also affect domestic animals and human health. As chemical fungicides are expensive and exert negative effects on the environment, the use of biological control agents has become attractive in recent years. In the present study, we collected rhizosphere soil with severe stalk rot disease (ZDD), the rhizosphere soil with disease-free near by the ZDD (ZDH), and measured rhizosphere microbial diversity and microbial taxonomic composition by amplicon sequencing targeting either bacteria or fungi. The results showed that <italic>Fusarium</italic> stalk rot caused by the <italic>Fusarium</italic> species among which <italic>F. graminearum</italic> is frequent and can reduce the abundance and alpha diversity of rhizosphere microbial community, and shift the beta diversity of microorganisms. Furthermore, a bacterial strain, <italic>Bacillus siamensis</italic> GL-02, isolated from ZDD, was found to significantly affect growth of <italic>F. graminearum</italic>. <italic>In vitro</italic> and <italic>in vivo</italic> assays demonstrated that <italic>B. siamensis</italic> GL-02 had good capability to inhibit <italic>F. graminearum</italic>. These results revealed that <italic>B. siamensis</italic> GL-02 could be a potential biocontrol agent for the control of maize stalk rot.</p>