Endophytic fungal community structure in olive orchards with high and low incidence of olive anthracnose

Fátima Martins,Paula Baptista,José Alberto Pereira,Diogo Mina

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-79962-z

Fátima Martins, Paula Baptista + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-79962-z

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Abstract

Fungal endophytes have been increasingly recognized to promote host plant protection to pathogens, but knowledge of the multiple effects that they could have in crop diseases is still scarce. This work attempts to understand the role of fungal endophytes in crop diseases, specifically in reducing disease development and interfering on lifestyle transition of the pathogen. To accomplish this, the endophytic fungal community of reproductive organs of olive tree from two orchards showing different levels of anthracnose incidence, a major disease of olive fruits, was characterized and compared between them. The two orchards showed distinct endophytic communities, differing in species richness, abundance and composition, with highest isolation rates and richness of endophytes in the orchard with low anthracnose incidence. These differences among orchards were greater on fruits than on flowers, suggesting that these changes in endophytic fungal composition may influence the lifestyle shifts in pathogen (from latent to pathogen). A number of fungal taxa were found to be positively associated to one of the two orchards. The fungal endophytes best correlated with high incidence of anthracnose are pathogens, while endophytes-associated to low anthracnose incidence are described to protect plants. Altogether, the results suggest varying pathogen–endophyte interactions among the two orchards.

Highlights

Fungal endophytes have been increasingly recognized to promote host plant protection to pathogens, but knowledge of the multiple effects that they could have in crop diseases is still scarce
In this study was evaluated the endophytic fungal community associated to olive trees from two orchards with a different historical record of anthracnose incidence
The results show that both type of olive orchard and plant organ play an important role in fungal community assembly, suggesting the existence of an endophytic consortium associated with each orchard or plant organ

Summary

Introduction

Fungal endophytes have been increasingly recognized to promote host plant protection to pathogens, but knowledge of the multiple effects that they could have in crop diseases is still scarce. Every plant species has been found to cohabit with a great diversity of endophytic microorganisms, including fungi[1] The members of these complex fungal communities continually interact among each other and with their hosts, sometimes conferring benefits (mutualistic) and at other times causing harm (pathogenic) by contributing to disease in plants[2]. Several species of Colletotrichum spp. responsible to cause olive anthracnose have been reported to exhibited different lifestyles, ranging from latent infections, at the flowering stage, to a necrotrophic phase upon fruit ripening[15] Before this devastating stage these fungi can adopt endophytic- or hemibiotrophic-like lifestyle before fruit ripening[13]. These characteristics make the olive tree and the anthracnose disease a good model system for studying the influence of the plant microbiota on the outcome of plant–pathogen interactions

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