Suppressing the growth of plant pathogenic fungi with volatile compounds produced by indigenous soil bacteria

Christina Papazlatani, Sigit Nur Pratama, Chen Zhijun, Wietse de Boer, Paolina Garbeva

Research output: Contribution to conferencePosterScientific

Abstract

Soilborne diseases caused by plant pathogenic fungi constitute a serious problem to horticulture and agriculture. These notorious pathogens are commonly confronted with chemical fungicides, which has led to the rise of environmental and public health concerns. An alternative and sustainable disease control strategy is to stimulate the production of pathogen suppressing volatiles by the indigenous soil bacteria community. Strong evidence suggests that volatile compounds play an important role in microbial interactions and can trigger pathogen suppression. Volatiles that contain sulfur or pyrazine ring have been shown to have an adverse effect in the growth of plant pathogens. Stimulation of the production of these volatiles by the indigenous soil bacteria could be achieved by amending the soil with organic substrates that contain precursor molecules of the metabolic pathways that lead to the desired volatiles’ production. The aim of this study is to stimulate the production of pathogen suppressing volatiles by soil bacteria, by providing precursor molecules either in the form of specific compounds or as an organic soil amendment. The amendments successfully led to the suppression of the growth of plant pathogenic fungi broadening the perspectives of field application.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - 18 Aug 2022

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