Nutrient- and Dose-Dependent Microbiome-Mediated Protection against a Plant Pathogen

Plant-associated microbial communities can promote plant nutrient uptake, growth, and resistance to pathogens [1, 2, 3]. Host resistance to infection can increase directly through commensal-pathogen interactions or indirectly through modulation of host defenses [4, 5, 6], the mechanisms of which are best described for rhizosphere-associated bacteria. For example, Arabidopsis plants infected with the foliar pathogen, Pseudomonas syringae pathovar tomato (Pst), increase their root secretion of malate, which attracts Bacillus subtillis to the roots and leads to a stronger host response against Pst [7]. Although there are numerous examples of individual defensive symbionts (e.g., [8]), it is less clear whether this type of protection is an emergent property of whole microbial communities. In particular, relatively little is known about whether and how the presence of phyllosphere (above-ground) microbial communities can increase host resistance against pathogens. In this study, we examined the ability of augmented tomato phyllosphere microbiomes to confer resistance against the causal agent of bacterial speck, Pst. Across five independent experiments, the augmented phyllosphere microbiome was found to decrease pathogen colonization. Furthermore, the dose of commensal bacteria applied affected the degree of protection conferred, and although the effect is dependent on microbial composition, it is not clearly related to overall bacterial diversity. Finally, our results suggest that resources available to the phyllosphere microbial community may play an important role in protection, as the addition of fertilizer abolished the observed microbiome-mediated protection. Together, these results have clear relevance to microbiome-mediated protection within agricultural settings and the use of plant probiotics to increase disease resistance.