Plant-Microbe Interaction: Mining the Impact of Native Bacillus amyloliquefaciens WS-10 on Tobacco Bacterial Wilt Disease and Rhizosphere Microbial Communities

• Published in: Microbiology spectrum 2022-08, Vol.10 (4), p.e0147122-e0147122
• Main Authors: Ahmed, Waqar, Dai, Zhenlin, Zhang, Jinhao, Li, Shichen, Ahmed, Ayesha, Munir, Shahzad, Liu, Qi, Tan, Yujiao, Ji, Guanghai, Zhao, Zhengxiong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; Bacillus amyloliquefaciens; Bacteria - genetics; biological control; disease incidence; Host-Microbial Interactions; microbiome; Microbiota; Nicotiana; Plant Diseases - microbiology; Plant Diseases - prevention & control; plant pathogens; plant-microbe interaction; Ralstonia solanacearum; Research Article; Rhizosphere; Soil - chemistry; Soil Microbiology
• ISSN: 2165-0497; 2165-0497
• DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.01471-22

Ralstonia solanacearum, the causative agent of bacterial wilt disease, has been a major threat to tobacco production globally. Several control methods have failed. Thus, it is imperative to find effective management for this disease. The biocontrol agent Bacillus amyloliquefaciens WS-10 displayed a significant control effect due to biofilm formation, and secretion of hydrolytic enzymes and exopolysaccharides. In addition, strain WS-10 can produce antimicrobial compounds, which was confirmed by the presence of genes encoding antimicrobial lipopeptides ( , , , and ) and polyketides ( , , , and ). Strain WS-10 successfully colonized tobacco plant roots and rhizosphere soil and suppressed the incidence of bacterial wilt disease up to 72.02% by reducing the R. solanacearum population dynamic in rhizosphere soil. Plant-microbe interaction was considered a key driver of disease outcome. To further explore the impact of strain WS-10 on rhizosphere microbial communities, V3-V4 and ITS1 variable regions of 16S and ITS rRNA were amplified, respectively. Results revealed that strain WS-10 influences the rhizosphere microbial communities and dramatically changed the diversity and composition of rhizosphere microbial communities. Interestingly, the relative abundance of genus significantly decreased when treated with strain WS-10. A complex microbial co-occurrence network was present in a diseased state, and the introduction of strain WS-10 significantly changed the structure of rhizosphere microbiota. This study suggests that strain WS-10 can be used as a novel biocontrol agent to attain sustainability in disease management due to its intense antibacterial activity, efficient colonization in the host plant, and ability to transform the microbial community structure toward a healthy state. The plant rhizosphere acts as the first line of defense against the invasion of pathogens. The perturbation in the rhizosphere microbiome is directly related to plant health and disease development. The introduction of beneficial microorganisms in the soil shifted the rhizosphere microbiome, induced resistance in plants, and suppressed the incidence of soilborne disease. sp. is widely used as a biocontrol agent against soilborne diseases due to its ability to produce broad-spectrum antimicrobial compounds and colonization with the host plant. In our study, we found that the application of native Bacillus amyloliquefaciens WS-10 significantly suppressed the incidence of tobacco bacteri