Ecology of seed-colonizing microbial communities: influence of soil and plant factors and implications for rhizosphere microbiology
Authors: Minz Dror , Nelson Eric , Hadar Yitzhak 
Published: December 2021

Original objectives: Our initial project objectives were to 1) Determine and compare the composition of seed-colonizing microbial communities on seeds, 2) Determine the dynamics of development of microbial communities on seeds, and 3) Determine and compare the composition of seed-colonizing microbial communities with the composition of those in the soil and rhizosphere of the plants.   Revisions to objectives: Our initial work on this project was hampered by the presence of native Pythium species in the soils we were using (in the US), preventing us from getting accurate assessments of spermosphere microbial communities. In our initial work, we tried to get around this problem by focusing on water potentials that might reduce damage from native Pythium species. This also prompted some initial investigation of the oomycete communities associated seedlings in this soil. However, for this work to proceed in a way that would allow us to examine seed-colonizing communities on healthy plants, we needed to either physically treat soils or amend soils with composts to suppress damage from Pythium. In the end, we followed the compost amendment line of investigation, which took us away from our initial objectives, but led to interesting work focusing on seed-associated microbial communities and their functional significance to seed-infecting pathogens. Work done in Israel was using suppressive compost amended potting mix throughout the study and did not have such problems. Our work focused on the following objectives: 1) to determine whether different plant species support a microbial induced suppression of Pythium damping-off, 2) to determine whether compost microbes that colonize seeds during early stages of seed germination can adequately explain levels of damping-off suppression observed, 3) to characterize cucumber seed-colonizing microbial communities that give rise to the disease suppressive properties, 4) assess carbon competition between seed-colonizing microbes and Pythium sporangia as a means of explaining Pythium damping-off suppression.  Background: Earlier work demonstrated that seed-colonizing microbes might explain Pythium suppression. Yet these seed-colonizing microbial communities have never been characterized and their functional significance to Pythium damping-off suppression is not known. Our work set out to confirm the disease suppressive properties of seed-colonizing microbes, to characterize communities, and begin to determine the mechanisms by which Pythium suppression occurs.  Major Conclusions: Compost-induced suppression of Pythium damping-off of cucumber and wheat can be explained by the bacterial consortia colonizing seeds within 8 h of sowing. Suppression on pea was highly variable. Fungi and archaea play no role in disease suppression. Potentially significant bacterial taxa are those with affinities to Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes. Current sequencing efforts are trying to resolve these taxa. Seed colonizing bacteria suppress Pythium by carbon competition, allowing sporangium germination by preventing the development of germ tubes. Presence of Pythium had a strong effect on microbial community on the seed.