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Orr R, Dennis PG, Wong Y, Browne DJ, Cooper M, Birt HWG, Lapis-Gaza HR, Pattison AB, Nelson PN. Nitrogen fertilizer rate but not form affects the severity of Fusarium wilt in banana. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2022; 13:907819. [PMID: 35941941 PMCID: PMC9356348 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.907819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2022] [Accepted: 06/29/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Nitrogen (N) fertilizers are routinely applied to bananas (Musa spp.) to increase production but may exacerbate plant diseases like Fusarium wilt of banana (FWB), which is the most economically important disease. Here, we characterized the effects of N rate and form on banana plant growth, root proteome, bacterial and fungal diversity in the rhizosphere, the concentration of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense (Foc) in the soil, and the FWB severity. Banana plants (Musa subgroup ABB) were grown under greenhouse conditions in soil with ammonium or nitrate supplemented at five N rates, and with or without inoculation with Foc. The growth of non-inoculated plants was positively correlated with the N rate. In bananas inoculated with Foc, disease severity increased with the N rate, resulting in the Foc-inoculated plant growth being greatest at intermediate N rates. The abundance of Foc in the soil was weakly related to the treatment conditions and was a poor predictor of disease severity. Fungal diversity was consistently affected by Foc inoculation, while bacterial diversity was associated with changes in soil pH resulting from N addition, in particular ammonium. N rate altered the expression of host metabolic pathways associated with carbon fixation, energy usage, amino acid metabolism, and importantly stress response signaling, irrespective of inoculation or N form. Furthermore, in diseased plants, Pathogenesis-related protein 1, a key endpoint for biotic stress response and the salicylic acid defense response to biotrophic pathogens, was negatively correlated with the rate of ammonium fertilizer but not nitrate. As expected, inoculation with Foc altered the expression of a wide range of processes in the banana plant including those of defense and growth. In summary, our results indicate that the severity of FWB was negatively associated with host defenses, which was influenced by N application (particularly ammonium), and shifts in microbial communities associated with ammonium-induced acidification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan Orr
- College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
| | - Paul G. Dennis
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Yide Wong
- Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine (AITHM), James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
- Centre for Tropical Bioinformatics and Molecular Biology, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
- Centre for Molecular Therapeutics, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
| | - Daniel J. Browne
- Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine (AITHM), James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
- Centre for Molecular Therapeutics, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
| | - Martha Cooper
- Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine (AITHM), James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
- Centre for Tropical Bioinformatics and Molecular Biology, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
| | - Henry W. G. Birt
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Department of Plant Science, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, United States
- Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, United States
| | | | | | - Paul N. Nelson
- College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
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Bubici G, Kaushal M, Prigigallo MI, Gómez-Lama Cabanás C, Mercado-Blanco J. Biological Control Agents Against Fusarium Wilt of Banana. Front Microbiol 2019; 10:616. [PMID: 31024469 PMCID: PMC6459961 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.00616] [Citation(s) in RCA: 115] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2018] [Accepted: 03/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In the last century, the banana crop and industry experienced dramatic losses due to an epidemic of Fusarium wilt of banana (FWB), caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense (Foc) race 1. An even more dramatic menace is now feared due to the spread of Foc tropical race 4. Plant genetic resistance is generally considered as the most plausible strategy for controlling effectively such a devastating disease, as occurred for the first round of FWB epidemic. Nevertheless, with at least 182 articles published since 1970, biological control represents a large body of knowledge on FWB. Remarkably, many studies deal with biological control agents (BCAs) that reached the field-testing stage and even refer to high effectiveness. Some selected BCAs have been repeatedly assayed in independent trials, suggesting their promising value. Overall under field conditions, FWB has been controlled up to 79% by using Pseudomonas spp. strains, and up to 70% by several endophytes and Trichoderma spp. strains. Lower biocontrol efficacy (42-55%) has been obtained with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, Bacillus spp., and non-pathogenic Fusarium strains. Studies on Streptomyces spp. have been mostly limited to in vitro conditions so far, with very few pot-experiments, and none conducted in the field. The BCAs have been applied with diverse procedures (e.g., spore suspension, organic amendments, bioformulations, etc.) and at different stages of plant development (i.e., in vitro, nursery, at transplanting, post-transplanting), but there has been no evidence for a protocol better than another. Nonetheless, new bioformulation technologies (e.g., nanotechnology, formulation of microbial consortia and/or their metabolites, etc.) and tailor-made consortia of microbial strains should be encouraged. In conclusion, the literature offers many examples of promising BCAs, suggesting that biocontrol can greatly contribute to limit the damage caused by FWB. More efforts should be done to further validate the currently available outcomes, to deepen the knowledge on the most valuable BCAs, and to improve their efficacy by setting up effective formulations, application protocols, and integrated strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni Bubici
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Istituto per la Protezione Sostenibile delle Piante (IPSP), Bari, Italy
| | - Manoj Kaushal
- International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
| | - Maria Isabella Prigigallo
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Istituto per la Protezione Sostenibile delle Piante (IPSP), Bari, Italy
| | | | - Jesús Mercado-Blanco
- Department of Crop Protection, Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (CSIC), Córdoba, Spain
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