Chaudhary Sidhant, Zakieh Mustafa, Dubey Mukesh, Jensen Dan Funck, Grenville-Briggs Laura, Chawade Aakash, Karlsson Magnus
Department of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, SE-75007, Sweden.
Department of Plant Breeding, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Lomma, SE-23422, Sweden.
BMC Plant Biol. 2025 May 2;25(1):576. doi: 10.1186/s12870-025-06620-9.
Beneficial microorganisms can act as biological control agents (BCAs) directly by targeting pathogens or indirectly by enhancing the plant's defense mechanisms against pathogens. However, efficiencies with which plants benefit from BCAs vary, potentially because of genetic variation in plants for plant-BCA compatibility. The aim of this study was to explore the genetic variation in winter wheat for modulation of Clonostachys rosea-mediated biocontrol of septoria tritici blotch disease caused by the fungal pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici.
In total, 202 winter wheat genotypes, including landraces and old cultivars grown from 1900 onwards in the Scandinavian countries, were tested under greenhouse-controlled conditions. Foliar spray applications of the pathogen and the fungal BCA in two treatments, i.e., Z. tritici (Zt) alone and Z. tritici along with C. rosea (ZtCr) were used to assess the disease progress over time. The absence and presence of C. rosea in Zt and ZtCr, respectively, allowed the dissection of variation for plant disease resistance and biocontrol efficacy. The study showed significant (P < 0.05) phenotypic variation among plant genotypes for disease progression in both Zt and ZtCr treatments. Moreover, the application of C. rosea resulted in a significant (P < 0.05) reduction in disease progression for seven genotypes and increased disease progression for eleven genotypes, indicating a plant genotype-dependent effect on the interaction between wheat, C. rosea and Z. tritici. For the phenotypic variation in disease progress and biocontrol efficacy, a genome-wide association study using a 20K single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) marker array was also performed. In total, five distinct SNP markers associated with disease resistance and four SNP markers associated with C. rosea biocontrol efficacy were identified.
This work serves as a foundation to further characterize the genetic basis of plant-BCA interactions when inoculated with Z. tritici, facilitating opportunities for simultaneous breeding for disease resistance and biocontrol efficacy.
有益微生物可通过直接靶向病原体或间接增强植物对病原体的防御机制来充当生物防治剂（BCAs）。然而，植物从生物防治剂中受益的效率各不相同，这可能是由于植物与生物防治剂相容性的遗传变异所致。本研究的目的是探索冬小麦在调节粉红粘帚霉介导的对由真菌病原体小麦壳针孢引起的小麦叶枯病的生物防治方面的遗传变异。
总共对202个冬小麦基因型进行了测试，包括自1900年起在斯堪的纳维亚国家种植的地方品种和老品种，测试在温室控制条件下进行。在两种处理中对病原体和真菌生物防治剂进行叶面喷施，即单独使用小麦壳针孢（Zt）以及小麦壳针孢与粉红粘帚霉一起使用（ZtCr），以评估随时间的病害进展情况。Zt和ZtCr中分别不存在和存在粉红粘帚霉，使得能够剖析植物抗病性和生物防治效果的变异情况。研究表明，在Zt和ZtCr处理中，植物基因型之间在病害进展方面存在显著（P < 0.05）的表型变异。此外，粉红粘帚霉的施用导致7个基因型的病害进展显著（P < 0.05）降低，11个基因型的病害进展增加，这表明植物基因型对小麦、粉红粘帚霉和小麦壳针孢之间的相互作用有依赖性影响。对于病害进展和生物防治效果的表型变异，还使用20K单核苷酸多态性（SNP）标记阵列进行了全基因组关联研究。总共鉴定出5个与抗病性相关的不同SNP标记和4个与粉红粘帚霉生物防治效果相关的SNP标记。
这项工作为进一步表征接种小麦壳针孢时植物与生物防治剂相互作用的遗传基础奠定了基础，为同时进行抗病性和生物防治效果的育种提供了机会。
