Soil proteomics for exploitation of microbial diversity in Fusarium wilt infected and healthy rhizosphere soils of tomato

•Metaproteomics provided information on tomato roots and microorganisms interactions.•qPCR analysis in soils revealed the requirement of pathogen load for their disease.•Differentially expressed proteins in soils played role in resistance in plants.•This study unravels the involvement of microbes in tomato cultivation ecosystems.

Microbial diversity in rhizosphere soil considered as important factors for agricultural productivity. Proteomic approach in Fusarium wilt infected and healthy rhizosphere soils of tomato provided the role of microbial protein involved for the development of disease as well as resistance. In this study, two different rhizosphere soils of tomato were collected analyzed through metaproteomic approach to determine the microbial protein abundance. The result of 2D-PAGE from both the soils revealed that, totally 11 differentially proteins were expressed and they were identified through MALDI-TOF. The identified proteins were originated from bacteria, fungus and plant. The functions of proteins showed that they were involved in resistance of tomato plant. Quantification of fungal pathogen inoculums from the both soils were formed by qPCR analysis. The result of qPCR analysis in soils revealed that Fusarium wilts infected soil contained more amount of Fungal ITS, Fusarium genus and F. oxysporum inoculums than healthy soils. Hence, our result suggests that due to the activity of beneficial microbial proteins in healthy soil, protected the tomato plants from wilt disease under the field conditons. Likewise, qPCR analysis clearly demonstrated the requirement of pathogen inoculums for the development of Fusarium wilt disease in tomato. Thus, the current study concludes that exploitation of microbial protein functions unravels the role of microbes including unculturable bacteria's for the development of resistance in plants against pathogens. In the other hand, early detection of pathogen by qPCR at minimal population level helps to develop management strategies before infection.

Graphical abstractDownload high-res image (247KB)Download full-size image