Brooke Rose Benz
North Dakota State University
Fargo, ND, USA
Joan Acaso, n/a
Doctoral Graduate Research Assistant
North Dakota State University
Fargo, North Dakota, United States
Abbeah Mae Navasca
Graduate Research Assistant
North Dakota State University
Fargo, North Dakota, United States
Diel Donne Velasco
North Dakota State University
Fargo, North Dakota, United States
Eglantina Lopez-Echartea, n/a
Assistant Professor
North Dakota State University
Fargo, North Dakota, United States
Barney Geddes, n/a
Assistant Professor
North Dakota State University
Fargo, North Dakota, United States
Thomas Baldwin, n/a
Assistant Professor
North Dakota State University
Fargo, North Dakota, United States
Briana Whitaker
Research Microbiologist, Mycotoxin Prevention and Applied Microbiology Research Unit
USDA-ARS
Peoria, Illinois, United States
Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a devastating disease of cereal crops worldwide that affects grain yield and quality. Breeding for resistance has made slow progress, and management with fungicides can lead to resistant pathogens. It is becoming increasingly understood that plant microbiomes can change in response to plant pathogens and may offer future solutions by recruiting naturally present microbes. In a survey of bacterial and fungal communities over two years at four FHB-misted nurseries across the US, ten genotypes from a spring malt barley training population were used to determine the microbial community response to FHB disease and host genotype. Previously, we identified that disease and genotype can significantly affect the bacterial and fungal communities of barley spikes. Further analysis of these communities has revealed additional insights. A core microbiome was identified across locations to determine universally responsive microbes. Differential enrichment analysis has identified different bacterial and fungal taxa significantly enriched in diseased spikes. Co-occurrence network analysis of the bacterial and fungal communities revealed that diseased networks were more connected compared to non-diseased networks, with higher numbers of connections and average degree. These results suggest that the barley spike microbiome is altered under FHB disease, and the greatest effects were seen in nurseries with the highest disease pressure. This study represents a first step in understanding how plant microbiomes respond to host genetics and plant disease.