Beneficial soil fungi enhance tomato crop productivity and resistance to the leaf-mining pest Tuta absoluta in agronomic conditions

Zhivko Minchev; Beatriz Ramírez-Serrano; Laura Dejana; Ana S. Lee Díaz; Guadalupe Zitlalpopoca-Hernandez; Dimitri Orine; Haymanti Saha; Dimitra Papantoniou; Juan M. García; Alicia González-Céspedes; Paolina Garbeva; Nicole M. van Dam; Roxina Soler; David Giron; Ainhoa Martínez-Medina; Arjen Biere; Thure Hauser; Nicolai V. Meyling; Sergio Rasmann; María J. Pozo

doi:10.1007/s13593-024-00991-3

Beneficial soil fungi enhance tomato crop productivity and resistance to the leaf-mining pest Tuta absoluta in agronomic conditions

Zhivko Minchev, Beatriz Ramírez-Serrano, Laura Dejana, Ana S. Lee Díaz, Guadalupe Zitlalpopoca-Hernandez, Dimitri Orine, Haymanti Saha, Dimitra Papantoniou, Juan M. García, Alicia González-Céspedes, Paolina Garbeva, Nicole M. van Dam, Roxina Soler, David Giron, Ainhoa Martínez-Medina, Arjen Biere, Thure Hauser, Nicolai V. Meyling, Sergio Rasmann, María J. Pozo^* (Corresponding author)

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal/periodical › Article › Scientific › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Research has shown that soil-borne beneficial microorganisms can enhance plant growth, productivity, and resistance against pests and pathogens and could thus serve as a sustainable alternative to agrochemicals. To date, however, the effect of soil-beneficial microbes under commercial crop production has been little assessed. We here investigated the effect of root inoculation with nine well-characterized bacterial and fungal strains and two consortia on tomato performance under intensive tomato crop management practices. We measured the impact of these root inoculations on plant growth, fruit quality, yield, and pest and pathogen incidence. While most microbial strains showed weak effects, we found that the fungal strains Trichoderma afroharzianum T22 and Funneliformis mosseae significantly increased marketable tomato yield. Moreover, we found that inoculation with most of the fungal strains led to a significant reduction in the incidence of the devastating leaf-mining pest Tuta absoluta, while this effect was not observed for bacterial inoculants. In addition, we found that microbial inoculations did not impact the incidence of introduced natural pest enemies, supporting their compatibility with well-established integrated pest management strategies in horticulture. In summary, the observed general positive effects of soil microbes on tomato yield and resistance reinforce the move toward broader adoption of microbial inoculants in future crop production, ultimately improving agricultural sustainability.

Original language	English
Article number	55
Journal	Agronomy for Sustainable Development
Volume	44
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-024-00991-3
Publication status	Published - 31 Oct 2024

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Minchev, Z., Ramírez-Serrano, B., Dejana, L., Lee Díaz, A. S., Zitlalpopoca-Hernandez, G., Orine, D., Saha, H., Papantoniou, D., García, J. M., González-Céspedes, A., Garbeva, P., van Dam, N. M., Soler, R., Giron, D., Martínez-Medina, A., Biere, A., Hauser, T., Meyling, N. V., Rasmann, S., & Pozo, M. J. (2024). Beneficial soil fungi enhance tomato crop productivity and resistance to the leaf-mining pest Tuta absoluta in agronomic conditions. Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 44, Article 55. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-024-00991-3

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title = "Beneficial soil fungi enhance tomato crop productivity and resistance to the leaf-mining pest Tuta absoluta in agronomic conditions",

abstract = "Research has shown that soil-borne beneficial microorganisms can enhance plant growth, productivity, and resistance against pests and pathogens and could thus serve as a sustainable alternative to agrochemicals. To date, however, the effect of soil-beneficial microbes under commercial crop production has been little assessed. We here investigated the effect of root inoculation with nine well-characterized bacterial and fungal strains and two consortia on tomato performance under intensive tomato crop management practices. We measured the impact of these root inoculations on plant growth, fruit quality, yield, and pest and pathogen incidence. While most microbial strains showed weak effects, we found that the fungal strains Trichoderma afroharzianum T22 and Funneliformis mosseae significantly increased marketable tomato yield. Moreover, we found that inoculation with most of the fungal strains led to a significant reduction in the incidence of the devastating leaf-mining pest Tuta absoluta, while this effect was not observed for bacterial inoculants. In addition, we found that microbial inoculations did not impact the incidence of introduced natural pest enemies, supporting their compatibility with well-established integrated pest management strategies in horticulture. In summary, the observed general positive effects of soil microbes on tomato yield and resistance reinforce the move toward broader adoption of microbial inoculants in future crop production, ultimately improving agricultural sustainability.",

author = "Zhivko Minchev and Beatriz Ram{\'i}rez-Serrano and Laura Dejana and {Lee D{\'i}az}, {Ana S.} and Guadalupe Zitlalpopoca-Hernandez and Dimitri Orine and Haymanti Saha and Dimitra Papantoniou and Garc{\'i}a, {Juan M.} and Alicia Gonz{\'a}lez-C{\'e}spedes and Paolina Garbeva and {van Dam}, {Nicole M.} and Roxina Soler and David Giron and Ainhoa Mart{\'i}nez-Medina and Arjen Biere and Thure Hauser and Meyling, {Nicolai V.} and Sergio Rasmann and Pozo, {Mar{\'i}a J.}",

note = "Data archiving: on request",

year = "2024",

month = oct,

day = "31",

doi = "10.1007/s13593-024-00991-3",

language = "English",

volume = "44",

journal = "Agronomy for Sustainable Development",

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Minchev, Z, Ramírez-Serrano, B, Dejana, L, Lee Díaz, AS, Zitlalpopoca-Hernandez, G, Orine, D, Saha, H, Papantoniou, D, García, JM, González-Céspedes, A, Garbeva, P, van Dam, NM, Soler, R, Giron, D, Martínez-Medina, A, Biere, A, Hauser, T, Meyling, NV, Rasmann, S & Pozo, MJ 2024, 'Beneficial soil fungi enhance tomato crop productivity and resistance to the leaf-mining pest Tuta absoluta in agronomic conditions', Agronomy for Sustainable Development, vol. 44, 55. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-024-00991-3

TY - JOUR

T1 - Beneficial soil fungi enhance tomato crop productivity and resistance to the leaf-mining pest Tuta absoluta in agronomic conditions

AU - Minchev, Zhivko

AU - Ramírez-Serrano, Beatriz

AU - Dejana, Laura

AU - Lee Díaz, Ana S.

AU - Zitlalpopoca-Hernandez, Guadalupe

AU - Orine, Dimitri

AU - Saha, Haymanti

AU - Papantoniou, Dimitra

AU - García, Juan M.

AU - González-Céspedes, Alicia

AU - Garbeva, Paolina

AU - van Dam, Nicole M.

AU - Soler, Roxina

AU - Giron, David

AU - Martínez-Medina, Ainhoa

AU - Biere, Arjen

AU - Hauser, Thure

AU - Meyling, Nicolai V.

AU - Rasmann, Sergio

AU - Pozo, María J.

N1 - Data archiving: on request

PY - 2024/10/31

Y1 - 2024/10/31

N2 - Research has shown that soil-borne beneficial microorganisms can enhance plant growth, productivity, and resistance against pests and pathogens and could thus serve as a sustainable alternative to agrochemicals. To date, however, the effect of soil-beneficial microbes under commercial crop production has been little assessed. We here investigated the effect of root inoculation with nine well-characterized bacterial and fungal strains and two consortia on tomato performance under intensive tomato crop management practices. We measured the impact of these root inoculations on plant growth, fruit quality, yield, and pest and pathogen incidence. While most microbial strains showed weak effects, we found that the fungal strains Trichoderma afroharzianum T22 and Funneliformis mosseae significantly increased marketable tomato yield. Moreover, we found that inoculation with most of the fungal strains led to a significant reduction in the incidence of the devastating leaf-mining pest Tuta absoluta, while this effect was not observed for bacterial inoculants. In addition, we found that microbial inoculations did not impact the incidence of introduced natural pest enemies, supporting their compatibility with well-established integrated pest management strategies in horticulture. In summary, the observed general positive effects of soil microbes on tomato yield and resistance reinforce the move toward broader adoption of microbial inoculants in future crop production, ultimately improving agricultural sustainability.

AB - Research has shown that soil-borne beneficial microorganisms can enhance plant growth, productivity, and resistance against pests and pathogens and could thus serve as a sustainable alternative to agrochemicals. To date, however, the effect of soil-beneficial microbes under commercial crop production has been little assessed. We here investigated the effect of root inoculation with nine well-characterized bacterial and fungal strains and two consortia on tomato performance under intensive tomato crop management practices. We measured the impact of these root inoculations on plant growth, fruit quality, yield, and pest and pathogen incidence. While most microbial strains showed weak effects, we found that the fungal strains Trichoderma afroharzianum T22 and Funneliformis mosseae significantly increased marketable tomato yield. Moreover, we found that inoculation with most of the fungal strains led to a significant reduction in the incidence of the devastating leaf-mining pest Tuta absoluta, while this effect was not observed for bacterial inoculants. In addition, we found that microbial inoculations did not impact the incidence of introduced natural pest enemies, supporting their compatibility with well-established integrated pest management strategies in horticulture. In summary, the observed general positive effects of soil microbes on tomato yield and resistance reinforce the move toward broader adoption of microbial inoculants in future crop production, ultimately improving agricultural sustainability.

U2 - 10.1007/s13593-024-00991-3

DO - 10.1007/s13593-024-00991-3

M3 - Article

SN - 1774-0746

VL - 44

JO - Agronomy for Sustainable Development

JF - Agronomy for Sustainable Development

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ER -