Bacterial community dynamics of tomato hydroponic greenhouses infested with hairy root disease. Issue 12 (26th November 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Vargas, Pablo; Bosmans, Lien; Van Calenberge, Bart; Van Kerckhove, Stefan; Lievens, Bart; Rediers, Hans
• Is Part Of: FEMS microbiology ecology. Volume 97:Issue 12(2022)
• Publication Date: 2021-11-26
• Subjects: hairy root disease -- microbial community -- rhizogenic Agrobacterium bv. 1 -- rockwool -- tomato hydroponics; Microbial ecology -- Periodicals; Microbiology -- Periodicals; 579.17
• DOI: 10.1093/femsec/fiab153
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0168-6496

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The rhizosphere is a complex ecosystem consisting of microbes in the interface between growth medium and plant roots, which affects plant productivity and health. This is one of the few studies analysing bacterial communities present in the rhizosphere of hydroponically grown plants. Tomato grown under hydroponic conditions is prone to hairy root disease (HRD) that is caused by rhizogenic Agrobacterium biovar 1 strains. In this study, using high-throughput amplicon sequencing of partial ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, we aimed to characterize bacterial communities in rockwool samples obtained from healthy or HRD-infested tomato during an entire growing season. Alpha diversity of rockwool increased in direct relation with time and samples obtained from healthy greenhouses presented a significantly lower alpha diversity than those from HRD-infested greenhouses. Beta diversity showed that bacterial community composition changed throughout the growing season. Amplicon Sequence Variants (ASVs) identified as rhizogenic Agrobacterium bv. 1 were more prevalent in HRD-infected greenhouses. Conversely, ASVs identified as Paenibacillus, previously identified as biocontrol organisms of rhizogenic agrobacteria, were more prevalent in healthy greenhouses. Altogether, our study greatly contributes to the knowledge of bacterial communities in rockwool hydroponics. Abstract : This study aimed to characterize bacterial communities present in the tomato rhizosphere of plants grown in rockwool, under hydroponic conditions, and either affected or not by hairy root disease.