Abstract
Biochar soil amendment alleviates plant disease through microbial-mediated processes but drivers facilitating this “biochar effect” are not fully understood. In this study, cucumber plants were inoculated with and without the fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-cucumerinum in either biochar-amended or nonamended soils, and disease severity was assessed. Amplicon sequencing and shotgun metagenomics were then applied to identify bacteria and associated mechanisms potentially involved in pathogen inhibition, and candidate bacteria were tested for in vitro F. oxysporum f. sp. radicis-cucumerinum-antagonizing capacity. Biochar-amended plants showed lower F. oxysporum f. sp. radicis-cucumerinum-associated growth stagnation compared with nonamended plants, supporting the biochar effect. Their rhizosphere had a more diverse microbiome with higher levels of secondary metabolite-encoding biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs). Families Pseudonocardiaceae (Lentzea spp.) and Myxococcaceae were significantly more abundant in biochar-amended rhizospheres of F. oxysporum f. sp. radicis-cucumerinum-inoculated plants, and metagenomically assembled genomes (MAGs) from these taxa contained genes encoding enzymes involved in binding and degradation of chitin, and novel BGCs encoding secondary metabolites. Lentzea spp. isolates related to the above MAGs showed in vitro antagonistic activity against F. oxysporum f. sp. radicis-cucumerinum. Collectively, we postulate that biochar amendment generates a “buffering effect” that reduces F. oxysporum f. sp. radicis-cucumerinum-facilitated destabilization of the root-associated microbiome, maintaining beneficial taxa that produce antagonizing enzymes and secondary metabolites that sustain plant health.
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Claims 9
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar amendment reduced pathogen-associated cucumber growth stagnation relative to nonamended plants.
- Taxon
- cucumber
Cucumis sativuse1 - Treatment
- Biochare0
- Interactor
- F. oxysporum f. sp. radicis-cucumerinum
Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-cucumerinume0pathogen - Outcome
- growth stagnatione0
- Direction
- lowere0
- Comparator
- nonamended plantse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Biochar-amended plants showed lower F. oxysporum f. sp. radicis-cucumerinum-associated growth stagnation compared with nonamended plants”
e1“cucumber plants were inoculated with and without the fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-cucumerinum”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar-amended cucumber rhizospheres had a more diverse microbiome.
- Taxon
- cucumberCucumis sativuse2
- Organ / stage
- rhizospheree0
- Treatment
- Biochare1
- Outcome
- microbiomee0
- Direction
- more diversee0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Their rhizosphere had a more diverse microbiome with higher levels of secondary metabolite-encoding biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs).”
e1“Biochar-amended plants”
e2“cucumber plants”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar-amended cucumber rhizospheres had higher levels of secondary metabolite-encoding biosynthetic gene clusters.
- Taxon
- cucumberCucumis sativuse2
- Organ / stage
- rhizospheree0
- Treatment
- Biochare1
- Outcome
- levels of secondary metabolite-encoding biosynthetic gene clusterse0
- Direction
- highere0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Their rhizosphere had a more diverse microbiome with higher levels of secondary metabolite-encoding biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs).”
e1“Biochar-amended plants”
e2“cucumber plants”
Claim · model-written summary
Pseudonocardiaceae were significantly more abundant in biochar-amended pathogen-inoculated rhizospheres.
- Taxon
- PseudonocardiaceaePseudonocardiaceaee0
- Treatment
- biochare0
- Interactor
- F. oxysporum f. sp. radicis-cucumerinumFusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-cucumerinume0pathogen
- Outcome
- abundante0
- Direction
- more abundante0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Families Pseudonocardiaceae (Lentzea spp.) and Myxococcaceae were significantly more abundant in biochar-amended rhizospheres of F. oxysporum f. sp. radicis-cucumerinum-inoculated plants”
Claim · model-written summary
Myxococcaceae were significantly more abundant in biochar-amended pathogen-inoculated rhizospheres.
- Taxon
- MyxococcaceaeMyxococcaceaee0
- Treatment
- biochare0
- Interactor
- F. oxysporum f. sp. radicis-cucumerinumFusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-cucumerinume0pathogen
- Outcome
- abundante0
- Direction
- more abundante0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Families Pseudonocardiaceae (Lentzea spp.) and Myxococcaceae were significantly more abundant in biochar-amended rhizospheres of F. oxysporum f. sp. radicis-cucumerinum-inoculated plants”
Claim · model-written summary
Genomes from Pseudonocardiaceae contained chitin-binding and degradation enzyme genes and novel secondary-metabolite biosynthetic clusters.
- Taxon
- PseudonocardiaceaePseudonocardiaceaee0
- Outcome
- genes encoding enzymes involved in binding and degradation of chitin, and novel BGCs encoding secondary metabolitese1
Verbatim
e0“Families Pseudonocardiaceae (Lentzea spp.) and Myxococcaceae”
e1“metagenomically assembled genomes (MAGs) from these taxa contained genes encoding enzymes involved in binding and degradation of chitin, and novel BGCs encoding secondary metabolites.”
Claim · model-written summary
Genomes from Myxococcaceae contained chitin-binding and degradation enzyme genes and novel secondary-metabolite biosynthetic clusters.
- Taxon
- MyxococcaceaeMyxococcaceaee0
- Outcome
- genes encoding enzymes involved in binding and degradation of chitin, and novel BGCs encoding secondary metabolitese1
Verbatim
e0“Families Pseudonocardiaceae (Lentzea spp.) and Myxococcaceae”
e1“metagenomically assembled genomes (MAGs) from these taxa contained genes encoding enzymes involved in binding and degradation of chitin, and novel BGCs encoding secondary metabolites.”
Claim · model-written summary
Lentzea isolates related to the assembled genomes antagonized the pathogen in vitro.
- Interactor
- F. oxysporum f. sp. radicis-cucumerinumFusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-cucumerinume0pathogen
- Outcome
- antagonistic activitye0
- Setting
- in vitroe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Lentzea spp. isolates related to the above MAGs showed in vitro antagonistic activity against F. oxysporum f. sp. radicis-cucumerinum.”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors hypothesize that biochar buffers pathogen-driven microbiome destabilization and preserves antagonistic beneficial taxa that sustain cucumber health.
- Taxon
- cucumberCucumis sativuse1
- Treatment
- biochar amendmente0
- Interactor
- F. oxysporum f. sp. radicis-cucumerinumFusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-cucumerinume0pathogen
- Outcome
- plant healthe0
- Qualifier
- maintaining beneficial taxa that produce antagonizing enzymes and secondary metabolitese0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“we postulate that biochar amendment generates a “buffering effect” that reduces F. oxysporum f. sp. radicis-cucumerinum-facilitated destabilization of the root-associated microbiome, maintaining beneficial taxa that produce antagonizing enzymes and secondary metabolites that sustain plant health.”
e1“cucumber plants”
The same questions in other papers
biochar · Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-cucumerinum · Cucumis sativus (cucumber)Results agree
1 paper in the same direction as this paper
- positive
biochar · soil: biology · Cucumis sativus (cucumber)Results agree
2 papers in the same direction as this paper
- positive
- positive
Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.