Biological control potential of worrisome wheat blast disease by the seed endophytic bacilli

Musrat Zahan Surovy; Sudipta Dutta; Nur Uddin Mahmud; Dipali Rani Gupta; Tarin Farhana; Sanjay Kumar Paul; Joe Win; Christopher Dunlap; Ricardo Oliva; Mahfuzur Rahman; Andrew G Sharpe; Tofazzal Islam

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2024.1336515

Biological control potential of worrisome wheat blast disease by the seed endophytic bacilli

Front Microbiol. 2024 Mar 11:15:1336515. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1336515. eCollection 2024.

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (IBGE), Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur, Bangladesh.
² The Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, United Kingdom.
³ Crop Bioprotection Unit, National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Peoria, IL, United States.
⁴ World Vegetable Center, Shanhua, Taiwan.
⁵ W.V.U. Extension Service, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, United States.
⁶ Global Institute for Food Security, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.

Abstract

Crop production often faces challenges from plant diseases, and biological control emerges as an effective, environmentally friendly, cost-effective, and sustainable alternative to chemical control. Wheat blast disease caused by fungal pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae Triticum (MoT), is a potential catastrophic threat to global food security. This study aimed to identify potential bacterial isolates from rice and wheat seeds with inhibitory effects against MoT. In dual culture and seedling assays, three bacterial isolates (BTS-3, BTS-4, and BTLK6A) demonstrated effective suppression of MoT growth and reduced wheat blast severity when artificially inoculated at the seedling stage. Genome phylogeny identified these isolates as Bacillus subtilis (BTS-3) and B. velezensis (BTS-4 and BTLK6A). Whole-genome analysis revealed the presence of genes responsible for controlling MoT through antimicrobial defense, antioxidant defense, cell wall degradation, and induced systemic resistance (ISR). Taken together, our results suggest that the suppression of wheat blast disease by seed endophytic B. subtilis (BTS-3) and B. velezensis (BTS-4 and BTLK6A) is liked with antibiosis and induced systemic resistance to wheat plants. A further field validation is needed before recommending these endophytic bacteria for biological control of wheat blast.

Keywords: antagonist; antibiosis; antimicrobial defense; bacillus; blast severity; genome.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research project was partially funded by the Krishi Gobeshona Foundation (KGF) of Bangladesh under the projects nos. KGF TF50-C/17, TF 92-FNS/21, and a BAS-USDA-PALS CR-11 project to Tofazzal Islam of the IBGE of BSMRAU. The Sainsbury Laboratory, UK funded whole genome sequencing and Annotation of genomic data of three potential bacterial isolates. This work was supported in part by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (project no. 5010–22410-024-00-D). Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The mention of firm names or trade products does not imply they are endorsed or recommended by the USDA over other firms or similar products not mentioned. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.