Abstract
Molecular mechanisms associated with biochar-elicited suppression of soilborne plant diseases and improved plant performance are not well understood. A stem base inoculation approach was used to explore the ability of biochar to induce systemic resistance in tomato plants against crown rot caused by a soilborne pathogen, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis lycopersici. RNA-seq transcriptome profiling of tomato, and experiments with jasmonic and salycilic acid deficient tomato mutants, were performed to elucidate the in planta molecular mechanisms involved in induced resistance. Biochar (produced from greenhouse plant wastes) was found to mediate systemic resistance against Fusarium crown rot and to simultaneously improve tomato plant growth and physiological parameters by up to 63%. Transcriptomic analysis (RNA-seq) of tomato demonstrated that biochar had a priming effect on gene expression and upregulated the pathways and genes associated with plant defense and growth such as jasmonic acid, brassinosteroids, cytokinins, auxin and synthesis of flavonoid, phenylpropanoids and cell wall. In contrast, biosynthesis and signaling of the salicylic acid pathway was downregulated. Upregulation of genes and pathways involved in plant defense and plant growth may partially explain the significant disease suppression and improvement in plant performance observed in the presence of biochar.
Highlights
Molecular mechanisms associated with biochar-elicited suppression of soilborne plant diseases and improved plant performance are not well understood
Global gene expression data for Arabidopsis thaliana grown in soil amended with biochar (4.2% w:w high temperature gasification biochar) revealed the up-regulation of several genes involved in stimulating plant growth and concomitant down-regulation of defense-related genes[21]
At 0, 1, and 3% concentration on the Fusarium crown and root rot disease of tomato and plant performance was examined in the glasshouse for 24 days under fertigation and irrigation regimes as in previous studies[12]
Summary
Molecular mechanisms associated with biochar-elicited suppression of soilborne plant diseases and improved plant performance are not well understood. Biochar amendment-elicited suppression of diseases caused by foliar pathogens is clearly mediated by induced systemic resistance, given that biochar is spatially distant from the site of pathogen attack[6,7,8,9]. There are numerous means by which biochar may influence diseases caused by soilborne plant pathogens Biochar and pathogens both reside in the soil and biochar can potentially have direct antagonistic effects toward the pathogen[10,11] as well as indirect interactions via induction of systemic resistance in the p lant[10,11,12]. Molecular mechanisms associated with biochar-elicited suppression of soilborne plant diseases have not yet been documented
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