Distinct rhizosphere microbiomes and metabolomes mediate Fusarium crown rot resistance across wheat cultivars.

Runlai Xu, Chenghang Du, Yutian Gao, Kunhu Chen, Jieru Guo, Jun Ma, Yinghua Zhang, Zhimin Wang, Zhencai Sun

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in NPJ biofilms and microbiomes, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Runlai XuState Key Laboratory of Maize Bio-Breeding, College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.

Chenghang DuState Key Laboratory of Maize Bio-Breeding, College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.

Yutian GaoState Key Laboratory of Maize Bio-Breeding, College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.

Kunhu ChenState Key Laboratory of Maize Bio-Breeding, College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.

Jieru GuoState Key Laboratory of Maize Bio-Breeding, College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.

Jun MaState Key Laboratory of Maize Bio-Breeding, College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.

Yinghua ZhangState Key Laboratory of Maize Bio-Breeding, College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.

Zhimin WangState Key Laboratory of Maize Bio-Breeding, College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.

Zhencai SunState Key Laboratory of Maize Bio-Breeding, College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China. Zhencai_Sun@cau.edu.cn.

Funding

National Key Research and Development Program of China 2023YFD2300203National Wheat Industry Technology System CARS301Pinduoduo-China Agricultural University Research Fund PC2023B02006Research Project from State Key Laboratory of Maize Bio-breeding SKLMB2442

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Soil-borne Fusarium crown rot (FCR) poses a major challenge to wheat production. Plants can recruit beneficial microbes through a "cry-for-help" strategy in response to pathogen attack, yet how different wheat genotypes modulate this response remains unclear. In FCR-affected wheat fields, we systematically investigated the interactions among wheat, pathogens, rhizosphere microbes, and metabolites using a combination of phenotypic assessment, molecular detection, and microbiome and metabolome profiling. Our results showed that wheat genotype and plant health jointly shaped rhizosphere microbial communities and metabolite profiles. Beneficial Bacillus species were key taxa in healthy rhizosphere communities, whereas the susceptible cultivar additionally relied on Pseudomonas to maintain plant health. In vitro assays and a pot experiment confirmed that these microbes antagonize the pathogen and enhance wheat performance, thereby alleviating FCR. Furthermore, the tolerant cultivar exhibited more complex rhizosphere microbial co-occurrence networks and harbored conserved taxa, such as Devosia. Microbe-metabolite interaction networks revealed strong associations between beneficial rhizosphere microbes (e.g., Bacillus and Pseudomonas) and specific metabolites, such as tritrans-heptacis-undecaprenyl phosphate, PE(14:1(9Z)/20:5(5Z,8Z,11Z,14Z,17Z)), and 1,2-Dioleoyl-sn-glycerol-3-phosphate. Collectively, our results provide novel evidence that rhizosphere metabolite-mediated plant-microbe interactions contribute to the suppression of soil-borne diseases.

Indexed as

Disease ResistanceFusariumMetabolomeMicrobiotaPlant DiseasesRhizosphereTriticumGenotypeSoil Microbiology

Identifiers

PMID42323395

DOI10.1038/s41522-026-01065-w

PMCPMC13642924

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.