Repeated exposure of wheat to the fungal root pathogen Bipolaris sorokiniana modulates rhizosphere microbiome assembly and disease suppressiveness.

Background: Disease suppressiveness of soils to fungal root pathogens is typically induced in the field by repeated infections of the host plant and concomitant changes in the taxonomic composition and functional traits of the rhizosphere microbiome. Here, we studied this remarkable phenomenon for Bipolaris sorokiniana in two wheat cultivars differing in resistance to this fungal root pathogen.

Results: The results showed that repeated exposure of the susceptible wheat cultivar to the pathogen led to a significant reduction in disease severity after five successive growth cycles.