Abstract
Soil-borne diseases caused by pathogenic fungi form a major threat for the cultivation of agricultural and horticultural crops worldwide. However, the use of many chemical fungicides has been or will be governmentally banned because of undesired side effects on the environment and human health. Therefore, there is a strong demand to have alternative, sustainable methods to control soil-borne diseases. In the soil, bacteria emit volatile organic compounds that play an important role in soil fungistasis (restricting the ability of fungi to germinate and grow) and disease suppressiveness (low incidence of disease despite the presence of virulent pathogens and host plants).
The focus of our research is on the possibility of enhancing the production of pathogen suppressing volatiles by indigenous soil microbial communities. Stimulation of soil bacteria to produce pathogen suppressing volatiles could be achieved by amending the soil with organic substrates that contain precursor molecules of the metabolic pathways leading to synthesis of these volatile compounds. For example, we observed that the addition of amino acids enhanced the production of antifungal volatiles by several soil bacteria (e.g. Microbacterium sp. and Burkholderia sp.). Our results further revealed that, besides the presence of precursors, nutrient availability also strongly influence the composition of the emitted volatile blend, and therefore, the suppression levels of the pathogenic fungi.
The focus of our research is on the possibility of enhancing the production of pathogen suppressing volatiles by indigenous soil microbial communities. Stimulation of soil bacteria to produce pathogen suppressing volatiles could be achieved by amending the soil with organic substrates that contain precursor molecules of the metabolic pathways leading to synthesis of these volatile compounds. For example, we observed that the addition of amino acids enhanced the production of antifungal volatiles by several soil bacteria (e.g. Microbacterium sp. and Burkholderia sp.). Our results further revealed that, besides the presence of precursors, nutrient availability also strongly influence the composition of the emitted volatile blend, and therefore, the suppression levels of the pathogenic fungi.
Original language | English |
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Publication status | Published - 17 Jul 2024 |