Cotton suffering from Verticillium wilt shapes a rhizosphere bacteriome with high antagonism against Verticillium dahliae

Abstract

Manipulating rhizosphere microbial community assembly through rhizosphere effects is vital for plants to combat soil-borne pathogen infection. However, little is known regarding both the shifts in the rhizosphere effects of plants on soil microbial community assemblage after being infected by a soil-borne pathogen and how the changes impact the associations between rhizosphere microbiota and pathogens. In this study, the impact of the infection of Verticillium dahliae on cotton rhizosphere bacterial community assemblage and the ability of rhizosphere bacteria to suppress V. dahliae was explored. The results showed that diseased plants exerted greater rhizosphere effects and selectivity on soil bacterial community than healthy plants, leading to a 21.75% decline in the richness of rhizosphere bacteria. However, the content of dissolved organic carbon in the rhizosphere of diseased plant was 114.10% higher than that of heathy plants. The rhizosphere microbiota of diseased cotton plants exhibited a higher antagonism against V. dahliae than healthy plants, which was associated with the enrichment of antagonistic bacteria against V. dahliae, primarily Enterobacter spp. These results revealed that enhancing rhizosphere effects on soil microbiota and shaping a rhizosphere microbiota with high antagonism against V. dahliae is an important strategy for cotton to respond to V. dahliae infection.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

rhizosphere effect / microbial community assemblage / soil-borne pathogens / antagonistic bacteria

Highlight

	● V. dahliae infection decreased bacterial diversity in cotton rhizosphere.
	● V. dahliae diseased plants showed higher rhizosphere effects on soil bacteria.
	● Rhizosphere bacteriome in diseased plant had higher suppression against V. dahliae .
	● Diseased plants enriched antagonistic bacteria against V. dahliae in the rhizosphere.

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