Portraying the Phytomicrobiome Studies during Abiotic stresses: Revisiting the past and exploring the future outcomes

Schematic representation of the microbial dynamics within soil during stresses. Microbes play an essential role in plant growth and development during adverse conditions through inducing defense signaling and stress-responsive processes in plants.

Editorial

13 October 2022

Editorial: Portraying the phytomicrobiome studies during abiotic stresses: Revisiting the past and exploring the future outcomes

Kanika Khanna

Sukhmeen Kaur Kohli

Renu Bhardwaj

and

Anket Sharma

1,093 views

0 citations

Editors

Kanika Khanna

Guru Nanak Dev University

Sukhmeen Kohli

University of Hyderabad

Renu Bhardwaj

Guru Nanak Dev University

Anket Sharma

Texas Tech University

Impact

Integrated approaches for studying plant-microbiome communication research.

Review

06 October 2022

Phytomicrobiome communications: Novel implications for stress resistance in plants

Kanika Khanna

, 13 more and

Thamer H. Albalawi

The agricultural sector is a foremost contributing factor in supplying food at the global scale. There are plethora of biotic as well as abiotic stressors that act as major constraints for the agricultural sector in terms of global food demand, quality, and security. Stresses affect rhizosphere and their communities, root growth, plant health, and productivity. They also alter numerous plant physiological and metabolic processes. Moreover, they impact transcriptomic and metabolomic changes, causing alteration in root exudates and affecting microbial communities. Since the evolution of hazardous pesticides and fertilizers, productivity has experienced elevation but at the cost of impeding soil fertility thereby causing environmental pollution. Therefore, it is crucial to develop sustainable and safe means for crop production. The emergence of various pieces of evidence depicting the alterations and abundance of microbes under stressed conditions proved to be beneficial and outstanding for maintaining plant legacy and stimulating their survival. Beneficial microbes offer a great potential for plant growth during stresses in an economical manner. Moreover, they promote plant growth with regulating phytohormones, nutrient acquisition, siderophore synthesis, and induce antioxidant system. Besides, acquired or induced systemic resistance also counteracts biotic stresses. The phytomicrobiome exploration is crucial to determine the growth-promoting traits, colonization, and protection of plants from adversities caused by stresses. Further, the intercommunications among rhizosphere through a direct/indirect manner facilitate growth and form complex network. The phytomicrobiome communications are essential for promoting sustainable agriculture where microbes act as ecological engineers for environment. In this review, we have reviewed our building knowledge about the role of microbes in plant defense and stress-mediated alterations within the phytomicrobiomes. We have depicted the defense biome concept that infers the design of phytomicrobiome communities and their fundamental knowledge about plant-microbe interactions for developing plant probiotics.

6,529 views

13 citations

(A–F) Effect of Bacillus subtilis (BS-01) and mineral nutrients [Zn (2X: 10 kg acre–1) and NPK (64:46:50 kg acre–1)] on the shoot length (A), shoot fresh weight (B) and shoot dry weight (C), root length (D), root fresh weight (E), and root dry weight (F) of tomato plants inoculated with Alternaria solani (AS) in the field after 60 days of pathogen inoculation (DPI). Values with different letters show a significant difference (p ≤ 0.05) in the mean value of replicates as determined by the LSD test. Error bars indicate standard errors of the mean of replicates (N = 2). −ve control, without inoculation of AS and nutrient application; +ve control, with inoculation of AS only (foliar application).

Original Research

23 March 2022

Combining Biocontrol Agent With Plant Nutrients for Integrated Control of Tomato Early Blight Through the Modulation of Physio-Chemical Attributes and Key Antioxidants

Zoia Arshad Awan

, 3 more and

Parvaiz Ahmad

Early blight (EB) is one of the major fungal diseases caused by Alternaria solani that is responsible for destructive tomato production around the globe. Biocontrol agent/s can be adequately implemented in an integrated management framework by using it in combination with vital plant nutrients, e.g., nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK) and zinc (Zn). The current study was aimed to assess the integrated effect of a biocontrol agent Bacillus subtilis (BS-01) and the selective plant nutrients (NPK and Zn) on EB disease management and tomato crop performance. A field experiment was conducted for the off-season tomato production (under walk-in tunnels) in Punjab, Pakistan. The trial was set in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) and comprised nine treatments of a biocontrol agent (BS-01) either alone or in combination with the plant nutrients, viz., NPK (64:46:50 kg acre^–1) and Zn (10 kg acre^–1) as sustainable disease managing approach against EB. In addition, the biocontrol efficacy of B. subtilis (BS-01) on a fungal load of A. solani was estimated by quantitative PCR assays, where the foliar application of BS-01 on tomato plants either alone or in combination with the plant nutrients was done as a preventive measure. Our results revealed that the interactive effect of BS-01 with plant nutrients conferred significantly a varying degree of resilience in the infected tomato plants against EB by effectively modifying the content of total chlorophyll, carotenoids, and total phenolics along with the activities of antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT, POX, PPO, and PAL). In addition, the integrative effect of BS-01 and plant nutrients proved significantly effective in reducing pathogen load on inoculated tomato foliage, displaying the desired level of protection against A. solani infection. Besides, the complementary interaction of BS-01 + Zn + NPK worked synergistically to improve crop productivity by providing the highest marketable yield (21.61 tons acre^–1) and net profit (361,363 Pakistani rupees acre^–1). This integrated approach is put forward as a way to reduce the fungicide doses to control EB that would act as a sustainable plant protection strategy to generate profitable tomato production.

5,066 views

19 citations

(A–L) Effect of soil application with zinc (Zn) and green manure (GM) on vegetative growth attributes in susceptible (SS: MNUYT-107) and highly susceptible (HS: MNUYT-105) genotypes of mungbean after 70 days of sowing. –ve control (without pathogen, Zn or GM); +ve control [M. phaseolina (MP)]. Vertical bars show standard errors of means of three replicates. Means with the same letters are not significantly different at p < 0.05 according to Fisher’s least significant difference (LSD) test.

Original Research

25 July 2022

Integrated management of charcoal rot disease in susceptible genotypes of mungbean with soil application of micronutrient zinc and green manure (prickly sesban)

Amna Shoaib

, 3 more and

Prashant Kaushik

2,723 views

7 citations

Original Research

03 March 2022

Prevalence of Wheat Associated Bacillus spp. and Their Bio-Control Efficacy Against Fusarium Root Rot

Shah Mulk

, 5 more and

Muhammad Nadeem Hassan

Bacillus spp. are the most prevalent group of bacteria in nature. Their prevalence depends upon multiple factors, namely, sporulation, antagonism, and production of secondary metabolites. The development of an eco-friendly approach to cope with edible crops diseases is very substantial for humans. In the present study, 658 isolates were obtained from wheat grown in the wheat rice cropping system and tested for their antagonistic activity against four wheat root rot pathogens, namely, Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium moniliforme, Macrophomina phaseolina, and Rhizoctonia solani. Out of 658, 106 isolates were found antagonistic to either single or multiple fungi. Out of 106 antagonistic bacteria, 62 (23%) were rhizospheric, 28 (14%) were root endospheric, and 16 (9%) were leaf endospheric. Based on mean inhibition against all fungi, the bacterial strains SM-39 and SM-93 showed maximum antagonistic activity. The 16S rRNA gene analysis revealed that most of the antagonistic bacteria exhibiting ≥48% antagonism were Bacillus spp. (98%), except two were Klebsiella spp. (2%). The bacterial strains exhibited phylogenetic lineage with the type strains of the respective genus based on the 16S rRNA gene sequences. In the net house experiment, Bacillus velezensis (SM-39) and Bacillus cabrialesii (SM-93) significantly suppressed Fusarium root rot severity in wheat (42–62%). Plants treated with these strains had lower electrolytic leakage (29–36%), as compared to untreated (44%). Relative water content was much higher (46–58%) for plants inoculated with these strains. These antagonistic strains also considerably colonized the wheat rhizosphere with a cell population of 5.8–6.9.log CFU/g of soil. The rhizosphere of wheat grown in the wheat-rice cropping system could be the potential habitat of effective biocontrol agents.

4,704 views

26 citations

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