Bacterial endophytome-mediated resistance in banana for the management of wilt.

Unlabelled: Banana ( spp.), a major cash and staple fruit crop in many parts of the world, is infected by wilt, which contributes up to 100% yield loss and causes social consequences. Race 1 and race 2 of Panama wilt caused by f. sp. () are prevalent worldwide and seriously affect many traditional varieties. The threat of tropical race 4 ( TR4) is looming large in African counties. However, its incidence in India has been confined to Bihar (Katihar and Purnea), Uttar Pradesh (Faizabad), Madhya Pradesh (Burhanpur) and Gujarat (Surat). Management of races by employing fungicides is often not a sustainable option as the disease spread is rapid and they negatively alter the biodiversity of beneficial ectophytes and endophytes. Besides, soil drenching with carbendazim/trifloxystrobin + tebuconazole is also not effective in suppressing the wilt of banana. Improvement of resistance to wilt in susceptible cultivars is being addressed through both conventional and advanced breeding approaches. However, engineering of banana endosphere with bacterial endophytes from resistant genotypes like Pisang lilly and YKM5 will induce the immune response against , irrespective of races. The composition of the bacterial endomicrobiome in different banana cultivars is dominated by the phyla Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria. The major bacterial endophytic genera antagonistic to are , , , , , , , , spp., sp., spp. , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , and . These bacterial endophytes promote the growth of banana plantlets by solubilising phosphate, producing indole acetic acid and siderophores. Application of banana endophytes during the hardening phase of tissue-cultured clones serves as a shield against . Hitherto, MAMP molecules of endophytes including flagellin, liposaccharides, peptidoglycans, elongation factor, cold shock proteins and hairpins induce microbe-associated molecular pattern (MAMP)-triggered immunity to suppress plant pathogens. The cascade of events associated with ISR and SAR is induced through MAPK and transcription factors including WRKY and MYC. Studies are underway to exploit the potential of antagonistic bacterial endophytes against isolates and to develop an understanding of the MAMP-triggered immunity and metabolomics cross talk modulating resistance. This review explores the possibility of harnessing the potential bacterial endomicrobiome against and developing nanoformulations with bacterial endophytes for increased efficacy against lethal pathogenic races of infecting banana.

Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-021-02833-5.