Mechanism of Key Components of Root Exudates to Alleviate Plant Diseases

On September 30, 2024, Yannong Xiao's team from Huazhong Agricultural University published a research paper entitled "Pepper root exudate alleviates cucumber root-knot nematode infection by recruiting a rhizobacterium" in Plant Communications. This study revealed the mechanism by which key components of pepper root exudates alleviate cucumber root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita) infection by recruiting beneficial microorganisms, providing a theoretical basis for the role of root exudates in alleviating plant diseases in rotation systems.

Research Background

Root-knot nematodes are one of the top ten plant parasitic nematodes, with more than 3,000 host species. With the increase in vegetable planting area, especially the large-scale promotion of solar greenhouses, the harm of root-knot nematodes has intensified year by year, seriously affecting the yield and quality of vegetables and leading to continuous cropping obstacles. Traditional chemical nematicides are prone to environmental pollution and drug resistance. Therefore, the development of green and safe prevention and control technologies has become an urgent problem to be solved in vegetable production.

Research Content

Reasonable crop rotation can effectively regulate soil microbial communities, thereby alleviating continuous cropping obstacles. This study analyzed the effects of cucumber (Cucumis sativus) and pepper (Capsicum annuum) rotation on the rhizosphere microbial community in inhibiting root-knot nematode disease.

Field test results showed that the rotation system effectively alleviated cucumber root-knot nematode disease and reduced the accumulation of p-hydroxybenzoic acid in the soil, which aggravates root-knot nematode disease and inhibits cucumber growth. In addition, pepper rotation changed the composition of rhizosphere microorganisms, leading to the enrichment of Pseudarthrobacter oxydans in the rhizosphere.

GC-MS analysis found that palmitic acid in pepper root exudates can recruit P. oxydans to colonize the cucumber rhizosphere in the next season. P. oxydans promotes cucumber growth and induces resistance by degrading p-hydroxybenzoic acid in the soil, and has a direct toxic effect on root-knot nematodes, thereby alleviating root-knot nematode disease.

Figure 1. Pepper rotation reduces cucumber root-knot nematode disease. (Tian, et al., 2024)

Summary

This study provides a novel and environmentally friendly plant disease control strategy by deeply analyzing the potential of pepper and cucumber rotation system in preventing and controlling cucumber root-knot nematode disease. This study identified a new chemical component in root exudates, revealing its important role in reducing crop diseases through crop rotation, emphasizing its potential in promoting the construction of beneficial microbial communities and its application in green control, and providing a theoretical basis for the application of root exudates in plant disease resistance mechanisms.

This discovery not only helps to understand the complex interaction between plants and microorganisms, but also provides a valuable perspective for the development of durable and environmentally friendly agricultural disease control technologies.

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Reference

1. Tian, T., et al. Pepper root exudate alleviates cucumber root-knot nematode infection by recruiting a rhizobacterium. Plant Commun. 2024: 101139.