Fungus and bacteria team up to save sick citrus trees
Liu Y, He P, He P, Li X, Ahmed A
Soil Health
Citrus groves worldwide are being hit by a one-two punch of a bacterial disease and root rot, and this microbial pairing shows a way to fight both without piling on more chemical fungicides.
Citrus trees are under attack from two directions at once: a bacterial disease that yellows leaves and stunts fruit, plus fungus-like pathogens that rot the roots. Scientists found a fungus and a bacterium that get along well together and, when applied as a team to the soil, boosted friendly microbes, drove out the harmful ones, and helped the tree's own defenses kick in. In pot experiments this microbial duo stopped root rot almost entirely and made the plants grow better overall.
Key Findings
In field surveys across nine citrus regions in China, oomycete pathogens (Phytophthora and Pythium species) caused 65.22% of root rot cases, and root rot severity showed no significant correlation with Huanglongbing bacterial levels.
The fungal strain Trichoderma asperellum NY-1 inhibited root rot pathogens by over 60% and was highly compatible with the Huanglongbing-fighting bacterium Bacillus subtilis L1-21, forming a combined SynCom (NL).
After 90 days, the SynCom NL treatment achieved 92.86% ± 8.25% control of root rot, boosted plant growth, increased beneficial soil microbes and root defense enzymes (SOD, CAT, PAL, PPO), and suppressed harmful fungi like Fusarium.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Chinese researchers combined a fungus and a bacterium into a single microbial team that protects citrus trees from two diseases at once, a bacterial infection called Huanglongbing and a soil-borne root rot, cutting root rot damage by over 90% in pot trials.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Cross-kingdom synthetic microbial consortium controls citrus Huanglongbing and root rot by modulating the rhizosphere microbiome and plant defense.
The synergistic occurrence of citrus Huanglongbing (HLB) caused by Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas) and root rot severely threatens the global citrus industry. In this study, field surveys ...
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