The underground world of plant disease: Rhizosphere dysbiosis reduces above-ground plant resistance to bacterial leaf spot and alters plant transcriptome.

Just as the human gut microbiome is colonized by a variety of microbes, so too is the rhizosphere of plants. An imbalance in this microbial community, known as dysbiosis, can have a negative impact on plant health. This study sought to explore the effect of rhizosphere dysbiosis on the health of tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum L.

The Role of Soil Abundance of in Potato Common Scab Disease Severity.

Common scab is an economically costly soilborne disease of potato endemic in many potato-growing regions. The disease is caused by species of bacteria that produce the phytotoxin thaxtomin A. The primary disease management tool available to growers is planting resistant cultivars, but no cultivar is fully resistant to common scab, and partially resistant cultivars are often not the preferred choice of growers because of agronomic or market considerations.

Ascochyta blight in North Dakota field pea: the pathogen complex and its fungicide sensitivity.

Worldwide, Ascochyta blight is caused by a complex of host-specific fungal pathogens, including , , and . The application of foliar fungicides is often necessary for disease management, but a better understanding of pathogen prevalence, aggressiveness, and fungicide sensitivity is needed to optimize control. Leaf and stem samples were obtained from 56 field pea production fields in 14 counties in North Dakota from 2017 to 2020 and isolates were collected from lesions characteristic of Ascochyta blight.

Characterization of f. sp. Associated with Root Rot of Field Pea in North Dakota and the Effects of Temperature on Aggressiveness.

Fusarium root rot is an important disease of field pea ( var. L.) that occurs everywhere pea is grown, causing yield loss of up to 75%.

The Use of Synthetic Microbial Communities to Improve Plant Health.

Despite the numerous benefits plants receive from probiotics, maintaining consistent results across applications is still a challenge. Cultivation-independent methods associated with reduced sequencing costs have considerably improved the overall understanding of microbial ecology in the plant environment. As a result, now, it is possible to engineer a consortium of microbes aiming for improved plant health.