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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Symbiotic Interactions
Volume 16 - 2025 |
doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1540242
This article is part of the Research Topic Pathogen Suppression by Plant-Associated Microbiota View all 3 articles
The biocontrol agent Streptomyces rimosus subsp. rimosus tempers shifts in the wheat spicosphere microbiome induced by Fusarium Head Blight
Provisionally accepted
Larissa De Troyer 1,2*
Kris Audenaert 2
Sarah Ommeslag 3
Jane Debode 3
Leen De Gelder 2
Noémie De Zutter 2*- 1 Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), Brussels, Belgium
- 2 Ghent University, Ghent, East Flanders, Belgium
- 3 Institute for Agricultural, Fisheries and Food Research (ILVO), Merelbeke, Belgium
Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) is a major fungal disease in wheat caused by Fusarium graminearum, inducing severe yield losses. Biological control agents (BCAs) can be an effective and sustainable approach to mitigate this phytopathogen. In this study, Streptomyces rimosus subsp. rimosus LMG19352 was used as a BCA to mitigate F. graminearum on wheat ears. Moreover, we aimed to assess the impact of BCA inoculation on non-target microorganisms present on the wheat spikes. Therefore, we evaluated shifts in the fungal and bacterial spicosphere microbiome (i) over time from flowering to mid-grain filling stage and (ii) across inoculations with F. graminearum and/or S. rimosus subsp. rimosus LMG19352. FHB symptoms were determined by multispectral imaging, and Illumina MiSeq was used to amplify 16S V3-V4 rDNA for bacteria and ITS2 for fungi, whereafter a correlation network analysis was performed. The biocontrol potential of S. rimosus subsp. rimosus LMG19352 against F. graminearum was confirmed, as FHB symptoms were significantly reduced. Based on the microbial abundances, S. rimosus subsp. rimosus LMG19352 compensated for shifts in the spicosphere microbiome community induced by FHB. These results were supported by a network analysis, revealing a more complex and stable microbiome in the presence of the BCA compared to the infected control. To our knowledge, this study is the first to reveal the potential of a bacterial BCA to temper shifts in the wheat microbiome caused by a phytopathogen, and thereby acting as a promising BCA.
Keywords: biocontrol, Streptomyces, Fusarium graminearum, Fusarium head blight (FHB), wheat, spicosphere microbiome, Amplicon sequencing, Correlation network analysis
Received: 05 Dec 2024; Accepted: 29 Jan 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 De Troyer, Audenaert, Ommeslag, Debode, De Gelder and De Zutter. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Larissa De Troyer, Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), Brussels, Belgium
Noémie De Zutter, Ghent University, Ghent, 9000, East Flanders, Belgium
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