Light stress elicits soilborne disease suppression mediated by root-secreted flavonoids in Panax notoginseng

Abstract

Developing disease-suppressive soils is an effective approach for managing soilborne diseases, which can be achieved through crop metabolism and root secretion modification to recruit beneficial soil microbiota. Many factors, such as light, can elicit and modify plant metabolomic activities, resulting in disease suppression. To investigate the impact of light, Panax notoginseng was planted in a greenhouse and forest, conditioned with three levels of light intensities, including the optimal (15% light transmittance of full light), suboptimal low (5% light transmittance of full light) and suboptimal high (30% light transmittance of full light) intensities. We assessed the rhizosphere microbiota of P. notoginseng and root rot disease caused by soilborne pathogen Ilyonectria destructans, and elucidated the mechanism. Results showed that suboptimal light conditions alleviated root rot disease of P. notoginseng by enriching beneficial microbiota in the rhizosphere. Both low and high light stresses enhanced the secondary metabolism profile in favor of plant defense, particularly the flavonoid pathway. Notably, high light stress demonstrated a robust ability to promote flavonoid metabolism and secretion, resulting in the enrichment of more beneficial microorganisms that suppressed the soilborne pathogen I. destructans. These findings highlight the potential for adjusting canopy light intensities to improve soil health and promote sustainable agriculture.

Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (U23A20202), the Major Science and Technology Project in Yunnan Province (202102AE090042), and the Major Science and Technology Project of Kunming (2021JH002).

Author contributions

H.F., C.G., and S.Z. conducted all experiments, conceived the study, and prepared the manuscript; S.Z., M.Y., and Y.Z. conceived the study, and supervised the project; X.M., Y.L., H.H., X.H., L.L., and H.L. provided critical comments on the study, and helped in manuscript revision; M.H. and J.Z. assisted in the study.

Data availability

The data supporting the findings of this study are available within the paper and its supplementary information files. The raw sequencing reads were deposited in the NCBI Sequence Read Archive (SRA) database. The underforest fungi and bacteria are denoted by PRJNA1074228 and RJNA1074125, respectively. The glasshouse fungi and bacteria are denoted by PRJNA1074256 and PRJNA1074252, respectively.

Conflict of interest

None declared.

Supplementary data

Supplementary data are available at Horticulture Research online.

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