An assessment of the species diversity and disease potential of Pythium communities in Europe.

Boie, Wilken; Schemmel, Markus; Ye, Wanzhi; Hasler, Mario; Goll, Melanie; Verreet, Joseph-Alexander; Cai, Daguang

Pythium sensu lato (s.l.) is a genus of parasitic oomycetes that poses a serious threat to agricultural production worldwide, but their severity is often neglected because little knowledge about them is available. Using an internal transcribed spacer (ITS) amplicon-based-metagenomics approach, we investigate the occurrence, abundance, and diversity of Pythium spp. s.l. in 127 corn fields of 11 European countries from the years 2019 to 2021. We also identify 73 species, with up to 20 species in a single soil sample, and the prevalent species, which show high species diversity, varying disease potential, and are widespread in most countries. Further, we show species-species co-occurrence patterns considering all detected species and link species abundance to soil parameter using the LUCAS topsoil dataset. Infection experiments with recovered isolates show that Pythium s.l. differ in disease potential, and that effective interference with plant hormone networks suppressing JA (jasmonate)-mediated defenses is an essential component of the virulence mechanism of Pythium s.l. species. This study provides a valuable dataset that enables deep insights into the structure and species diversity of Pythium s.l. communities in European corn fields and knowledge for better understanding plant-Pythium interactions, facilitating the development of an effective strategy to cope with this pathogen. Pythium sensu lato (s.l.) is an oomycete that poses a serious threat to agricultural production worldwide. This study, using metabarcoding, provides insights into the diverse soil communities of Pythium s.l. across 127 locations and their disease potential in European corn fields.

SPECIES diversity; AGRICULTURAL productivity; PLANT hormones; EUROPEAN communities; PYTHIUM

Nature Communications, 2024, Vol 15, Issue 1, p1

2041-1723

Academic Journal

10.1038/s41467-024-52761-0