Influence of Bacillus subtilis strain Z-14 on microbial communities of wheat rhizospheric soil infested with Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici

• Published in: Frontiers in microbiology 2022-09, Vol.13, p.923242-923242
• Main Authors: Liu, Zhaosha, Xiao, Jiawen, Zhang, Xuechao, Dou, Shijuan, Gao, Tongguo, Wang, Dongmei, Zhang, Dongdong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bacillus subtilis; Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici; microbial carbon metabolism; Microbiology; soil microbial diversity; whole-genome sequencing
• ISSN: 1664-302X; 1664-302X
• DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.923242

Wheat take-all disease caused by Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici ( Ggt ) spreads rapidly and is highly destructive, causing severe reductions in wheat yield. Bacillus subtilis strain Z-14 that significantly controlled wheat take-all disease effectively colonized the roots of wheat seedlings. Z-14 increased the metabolic activity and carbon source utilization of rhizospheric microorganisms, thus elevating average well-color development (AWCD) values and functional diversity indexes of soil microbial communities. Z-14 increased the abundance of Bacillus in the rhizosphere, which was positively correlated with AWCD and functional diversity indexes. The Z-14-treated samples acquired more linkages and relative connections between bacterial communities according to co-occurrence network analyses. After the application of Ggt , the number of linkages between fungal communities increased but later decreased, whereas Z-14 increased such interactions. Whole-genome sequencing uncovered 113 functional genes related to Z-14’s colonization ability and 10 secondary metabolite gene clusters in the strain, of which nine substances have antimicrobial activity. This study clarifies how bacterial agents like Z-14 act against phytopathogenic fungi and lays a foundation for the effective application of biocontrol agents.