TY - JOUR
T1 - Spinach Seed Microbiome Characteristics Linked to Suppressiveness Against Globisporangium ultimum Damping-Off
AU - Diakaki, Makrina
AU - Andreo Jimenez, Beatriz
AU - de Lange, Ezra
AU - Butterbach, Patrick
AU - van der Heijden, Liesbeth
AU - Köhl, Jürgen
AU - de Boer, Wietse
AU - Postma, Joeke
N1 - Data archiving: no NIOO data
PY - 2025/1/8
Y1 - 2025/1/8
N2 - Recently we demonstrated that the seed microbiome of certain spinach (Spinacia oleracea) seed lots can confer disease suppression against Globisporangium ultimum damping-off (previously known as Pythium ultimum). We hypothesized that differences in the microbial community composition of spinach seed lots correlate with the levels of damping-off suppressiveness of each seed lot. Here, we show that a large proportion of variance in seed-associated bacterial (16S) and fungal (Internal Transcribed Spacer 1) amplicon sequences was explained by seed lot identity, while 9.8% of bacterial and 7.1% of fungal community variance correlated with disease suppression. More specifically, a higher relative abundance of basidiomycetous dimorphic yeasts such as Vishniacozyma, Filobasidium, and Papiliotrema and of the bacterial genus Massilia was a key feature of suppressive seed microbiomes. We suggest that the abundance of these genera is indicative of seed lot suppressive potential. Seed processing and treatment can become more targeted with indicator taxa being used to evaluate the presence of beneficial seed-associated microbial functions. This process, in turn, could contribute to the sustainable management of seedling diseases. Finally, this study highlights the ubiquity of yeasts in spinach seed microbiota and their potential beneficial roles for seed health.
AB - Recently we demonstrated that the seed microbiome of certain spinach (Spinacia oleracea) seed lots can confer disease suppression against Globisporangium ultimum damping-off (previously known as Pythium ultimum). We hypothesized that differences in the microbial community composition of spinach seed lots correlate with the levels of damping-off suppressiveness of each seed lot. Here, we show that a large proportion of variance in seed-associated bacterial (16S) and fungal (Internal Transcribed Spacer 1) amplicon sequences was explained by seed lot identity, while 9.8% of bacterial and 7.1% of fungal community variance correlated with disease suppression. More specifically, a higher relative abundance of basidiomycetous dimorphic yeasts such as Vishniacozyma, Filobasidium, and Papiliotrema and of the bacterial genus Massilia was a key feature of suppressive seed microbiomes. We suggest that the abundance of these genera is indicative of seed lot suppressive potential. Seed processing and treatment can become more targeted with indicator taxa being used to evaluate the presence of beneficial seed-associated microbial functions. This process, in turn, could contribute to the sustainable management of seedling diseases. Finally, this study highlights the ubiquity of yeasts in spinach seed microbiota and their potential beneficial roles for seed health.
U2 - 10.1093/femsec/fiaf004
DO - 10.1093/femsec/fiaf004
M3 - Article
SN - 0168-6496
VL - 101
JO - FEMS Microbiology Ecology
JF - FEMS Microbiology Ecology
IS - 2
M1 - fiaf004
ER -