PubMed · 2026-05-07
Certain beneficial soil bacteria — particularly Bacillus thuringiensis — can protect tomato plants from a devastating fungal-like pathogen called Phytophthora capsici, dramatically boosting root and shoot growth while reducing disease. Researchers used advanced chemical imaging to map exactly how these bacteria fight the pathogen at a molecular level.
Bacillus thuringiensis-treated tomato plants exposed to Phytophthora capsici showed a 94.4% increase in root length and 74.0% increase in shoot height compared to pathogen-only plants
Two of four Bacillus species (B. thuringiensis and B. subtilis) were effective both in lab dishes and in live greenhouse plants, while the other two only worked in lab conditions
Chemical imaging (DESI-MSI) identified seven distinct molecular interaction zones between B. thuringiensis and P. capsici in dual culture, mapping the biochemical battlefield for the first time
