Host-specific fungal plant pathogens exhibit distinct interactions with the leaf microbiota of wild grasses.
Flores-Núñez VM, Dal'Sasso TCS, Hansen M, Reinhardt G, Braun S
Plant Microbiome
The wild grasses growing along roadsides and field edges aren't just weeds — they harbor a dynamic microbial arms race that shapes how disease spreads through cereal crops like wheat and barley in nearby fields.
Leaves are home to a whole community of tiny organisms — bacteria, fungi, and more — that can either help or hurt the plant. Scientists found that a disease-causing fungus doesn't just attack the plant; it also changes that leaf community in ways that depend on whether the fungus is the 'right' pathogen for that plant. Even more surprising, a sugar-processing molecule the fungus releases can actually feed certain bacteria, which might change how the disease plays out.
Key Findings
Virulent (host-matched) pathogen lineages shifted the leaf fungal community, while avirulent (host-mismatched) lineages had the strongest negative effects on leaf bacteria.
Both virulent and avirulent pathogens showed a similar range of direct interactions with bacteria in lab coculture experiments, suggesting in-plant context shapes the microbiome effect.
Invertase enzymes secreted by Zymoseptoria pathogens were identified as a mechanism that can enhance bacterial growth, linking fungal metabolism to microbiome composition.
chevron_right Technical Summary
When a fungal pathogen invades a wild grass leaf, it reshapes the invisible community of bacteria and fungi living there — but the effect depends on whether the pathogen 'belongs' on that host. Pathogens matched to their natural host altered the leaf's fungal community, while mismatched pathogens suppressed bacteria, and a sugar-digesting enzyme the fungi secrete turns out to be a key driver of those microbial shifts.
Abstract Preview
The plant's microbiome is influenced by the plant species and biotic factors such as infection by pathogens. Pathogen-microbiome interactions are relevant for disease progression since both can com...
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