Deciphering the microbiome of a disease-suppressive soil by dilution-to-extinction
In disease-suppressive soils, root-associated microbiomes provide plant protection against infections by specific soil-borne plant pathogens. Previously, we screened a large number of soils for suppressiveness to Fusarium culmorum of wheat and revealed that soil S11 showed a consistent and high level of suppressiveness that was associated with the rhizosphere microbiome. In this study, we used a dilution-to-extinction approach to investigate the underlying mechanisms of microbiome-mediated disease suppressiveness to F. culmorum. Introducing different dilutions of this S11 rhizosphere microbiome into the sterile soil revealed a nonlinear relationship between the dilution factor and the level of disease suppressiveness. At low microbiome dilution, disease was significantly suppressed relative to the untreated control, but the suppressive effect was lost at higher dilutions (100X and higher). Shotgun metagenomic sequencing data were collected from 25X, 50X, 100X, 200X treatment with 5 replicates each treatment.
In disease-suppressive soils, root-associated microbiomes provide plant protection against infections by specific soil-borne plant pathogens. Previously, we screened a large number of soils for suppressiveness to Fusarium culmorum of wheat and revealed that soil S11 showed a consistent and high level of suppressiveness that was associated with the rhizosphere microbiome. In this study, we used a dilution-to-extinction approach to investigate the underlying mechanisms of microbiome-mediated disease suppressiveness to F. culmorum. Introducing different dilutions of this S11 rhizosphere microbiome into the sterile soil revealed a nonlinear relationship between the dilution factor and the level of disease suppressiveness. At low microbiome dilution, disease was significantly suppressed relative to the untreated control, but the suppressive effect was lost at higher dilutions (100X and higher). Shotgun metagenomic sequencing data were collected from 25X, 50X, 100X, 200X treatment with 5 replicates each treatment.
Wageningen university & research