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Agronomy
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Plant-Microbe Community and Its Mechanisms of Interaction with Mediterranean Crops:...
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Plant-Microbe Community and Its Mechanisms of Interaction with Mediterranean Crops: A Key Interaction for Plants’ Benefit and Resilience

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Pest and Disease Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 September 2022) | Viewed by 6943

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Paola Caruso

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Olive, Fruit and Citrus Crops, Corso Savoia 190, 95024 Acireale, Italy
Interests: genetic and breeding of industrial and ornamental citrus; involvement of Rutaceae in the spread of emerging citrus diseases; genes involved in abiotic and biotic citrus stresses; metabolism of Vitamin C and other antioxidants in citrus; bacterial diseases of Mediterranean species
Dr. Grazia Licciardello

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Olive, Fruit and Citrus Crops, Corso Savoia 190, 95024 Acireale, Italy
Interests: plant viruses; virus-plant interactions; viral and bacterial diseases of citrus; citrus tristeza virus; diagnostic methods; virus characterization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, much attention has been paid to the study of the interaction between the plant and the complex microbial community that coexists with it. It has been shown that the plant benefits from the interaction of both aboveground and belowground microbes, promoting plant growth, disease control, the removal of harmful compounds and nutrient absorption. Furthermore, the use of these microbes as bioformulations for plant protection instead of pesticides is increasingly required by international initiatives promoted by governments to encourage sustainable agriculture.

This Special Issue will focus on the “Plant-Microbe Community and Its Mechanisms of Interaction with Mediterranean Species”, due to the relevance of the Mediterranean diet, recognized by the FAO as not only healthy for humans but also good for the environment and biodiversity. Thus, the Mediterranean diet can help to promote the sustainable development of agriculture.

We are open to novel research, reviews and opinion articles covering all aspects of the interactions between the plant-microbe community and any Mediterranean species, with a particular focus on epiphyte and endophyte microbial community analysis, rhizosphere microbiota and their impacts on plant hosts, microbial inoculants, beneficial microorganisms helpful for plant growth, microbial diversity studies, sustainable agriculture, etc. Contributions based on physiological, biochemical, and molecular studies of crops’ responses to plant-microbe interactions that affect the quality of crops and studies of plant-associated microbial communities that improve or increase the plant's response to pathogens, contributing to food security, will be warmly welcomed.

Dr. Paola Caruso
Dr. Grazia Licciardello
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • epiphyte interactions
  • endophyte interactions
  • microbial community
  • plant-associated microbes
  • sustainable agriculture
  • microbial diversity
  • Mediterranean species

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 2537 KiB  
Article
Sour Orange Microbiome Is Affected by Infections of Plenodomus tracheiphilus Causal Agent of Citrus Mal Secco Disease
by Giulio Dimaria, Alexandros Mosca, Alice Anzalone, Giuseppe Paradiso, Daniele Nicotra, Grete Francesca Privitera, Alfredo Pulvirenti and Vittoria Catara
Agronomy 2023, 13(3), 654; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy13030654 - 24 Feb 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2248
Abstract
Mal secco is a severe vascular citrus disease (MSD) caused by the mitosporic fungus Plenodomus tracheiphilus (Pt). The pathogen enters through wounds on the above- and below-ground parts of the tree. The susceptible species sour orange (Citrus aurantium) is [...] Read more.
Mal secco is a severe vascular citrus disease (MSD) caused by the mitosporic fungus Plenodomus tracheiphilus (Pt). The pathogen enters through wounds on the above- and below-ground parts of the tree. The susceptible species sour orange (Citrus aurantium) is the most commonly used rootstock for lemon trees in Italy. In this study, sour orange seedlings were wound-inoculated with P. tracheiphilus in leaves or roots. Six months post-inoculation, the microbial communities of rhizosphere, endorhizosphere, and xylem endosphere samples from inoculated and healthy plants were analyzed by 16S rRNA and ITS (internal transcribed spacer) amplicon sequencing. The DNA of Pt was quantified by real-time PCR in the three compartments. According to our results, the endorhizosphere of root-inoculated plants showed the highest concentration of the pathogen DNA. Bacterial populations of potentially beneficial taxa (e.g., Pseudomonas and Burkholderia) were depleted in the rhizosphere of the inoculated plants. Infection through leaves and roots also produced a network-wide rewiring of microbial associations in sour orange roots. Overall, our findings revealed community-level changes induced by Pt infection in the sour orange root and xylem microbiome, providing further insights into the beneficial multispecies interactions in Citrus-associated microbial communities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant-Microbe Community and Its Mechanisms of Interaction with Mediterranean Crops: A Key Interaction for Plants’ Benefit and Resilience)
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14 pages, 2722 KiB  
Article
Cultivar Susceptibility to Olive Knot Disease and Association with Endophytic Microbiota Community
by Grazia Licciardello, Alexandros Mosca, Silvia Di Silvestro, Damiano Puglisi, Maria Patrizia Russo, Vittoria Catara and Paola Caruso
Agronomy 2023, 13(2), 468; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy13020468 - 04 Feb 2023
Viewed by 1867
Abstract
Olive knot disease (OKD) induced by the bacterium Pseudomonas savastanoi pv. savastanoi seriously affects olive production in the Mediterranean basin. Nowadays, the only strategies to control the disease are pruning and the application of cupric products. An essential strategy to enhance protection is represented [...] Read more.
Olive knot disease (OKD) induced by the bacterium Pseudomonas savastanoi pv. savastanoi seriously affects olive production in the Mediterranean basin. Nowadays, the only strategies to control the disease are pruning and the application of cupric products. An essential strategy to enhance protection is represented by the identification of resistant cultivars, which represents a crucial opportunity for future investments and breeding. We undertook a three-year-long survey at the International Olive Germplasm Collection of “Villa Zagaria” (Sicily, Italy) on thirty-six Sicilian cultivars that were monitored for symptom development. Cultivars with different levels of susceptibility were divided into five clusters. Moreover, in order to investigate possible interactions with endophytic microbial communities, two cultivars with contrasting susceptibilities, Zaituna (highly resistant) and Giarraffa (highly susceptible), were selected for an amplicon-based metagenomic analysis. Distinct endophytic communities colonized the two cultivars, suggesting an interaction between the resident bacterial community and the pathogen. Significantly higher bacterial richness was detected in the shoots of the susceptible cv. Giarraffa, although it had lower diversity. The opposite trend was observed for fungal communities. Among the microbes resulted to be enriched in cv. Giarraffa, it is important to underline the presence of Pseudomonas among the bacterial genera, and Alternaria, Neofusicoccum, Epicoccum, Ascochyta, and Elsinoe among the fungal genera, which include many species often described as plant pathogens and biocontrol agents. Starting from this basic information, new strategies of control, which include breeding for resistance and integrated disease management, can be envisaged. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant-Microbe Community and Its Mechanisms of Interaction with Mediterranean Crops: A Key Interaction for Plants’ Benefit and Resilience)
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13 pages, 2728 KiB  
Article
Sodium Selenate: An Environmental-Friendly Means to Control Tomato Bacterial Speck Disease
by Chiaraluce Moretti, Marika Bocchini, Mara Quaglia, Daniela Businelli, Benedetta Orfei and Roberto Buonaurio
Agronomy 2022, 12(6), 1351; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy12061351 - 01 Jun 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2101
Abstract
Selenium (Se) is a micronutrient which plays a beneficial role in plants. Its adsorption at low doses can stimulate plant growth and enhance the plant’s capacity to respond to abiotic stresses, such as salinity, drought, cold and hot temperature, probably due to its [...] Read more.
Selenium (Se) is a micronutrient which plays a beneficial role in plants. Its adsorption at low doses can stimulate plant growth and enhance the plant’s capacity to respond to abiotic stresses, such as salinity, drought, cold and hot temperature, probably due to its antioxidant properties. Here, the effect of selenium supplied in soil-drench treatments as sodium selenate (Na2SeO4) at the dose of 4 mg L−1 (21.17 µM) per plant was studied on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.; cv. Rio Grande) against Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato (Pst), the causal agent of tomato bacterial speck. Sodium selenate treated tomato plants challenged with Pst showed a reduction in disease severity expressed as percentage of diseased area and number of lesions per leaf. Furthermore, Pst bacterial cells were unable to proliferate in treated tomato plants. The effect of sodium selenate against Pst was also assessed in vitro, demonstrating that the growth of the bacterium was affected in a dose-dependent manner (EC50 = 42 ppm). It is notable that in tomato plants treated with sodium selenate at the above reported dose, a marked callose deposition was observed as well as the expression of the salicylic-acid-responsive tomato ‘pathogenesis-related protein 1b1’ (PR1b1) but not of the jasmonate-mediated ‘proteinase inhibitor 2’ (PIN2) genes. Induced defence responses and direct antimicrobial activity protect treated tomato plants against Pst attacks, suggesting the potential of sodium selanate as an environmentally friendly and effective bacterial control means. Moreover, the increased Se content in treated tomatoes offers an effective approach to reduce Se deficiency problems in human diets. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant-Microbe Community and Its Mechanisms of Interaction with Mediterranean Crops: A Key Interaction for Plants’ Benefit and Resilience)
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