Engineering of the soybean microbiome to suppress root lesion nematodes

植物寄生线虫（PPN）是一种重要的土壤生物，在全球范围内造成的农作物损失占总损失的12.6%。线虫管理是一项挑战，因为杀线虫剂大多已被禁用，而抗性品种或非寄主作物往往无法获得或无利可图。高效、可持续的控制方法已成为迫切需要。农业生态系统中的植物是多生物体协会的一部分，称为植物群落，支持它们防御PPN。植物调节其根际的微生物组，从而影响随后在同一土壤中生长的后续植物。这可能是在轮作中经常报告的植物-土壤反馈的主要原因，并可能被利用来控制PPN。在欧洲实施增加蛋白质作物产量的战略之后，适应温带气候的大豆品种的种植面积不断增加。我们发现，根病变线虫（RLN，Pratylenchus spp.）是德国大豆生产的主要威胁。它们不仅损害根部，而且还显著影响根瘤中的共生固氮。通过培养一定的根际微生物，可以减少根际细菌在大豆上的入侵和繁殖。在这项拟议的研究中，我们的目标是了解这些前作物的植物-土壤反馈，这些前作物以抑制RLN的方式调节大豆根际微生物组。它将被调查，在根际微生物类群与RLN的抑制丰度，以及这种效果是否取决于初始散装土壤微生物组的组成。我们将研究，如何调制微生物组抑制RLN（直接或植物介导），以及抑制性微生物组如何塑造植物对RLN的反应。

Plant parasitic nematodes (PPN) are economically important soil-born threats worldwide.Globally, 12.6% crop losses were attributed to PPN. Nematode management is a challenge because nematicides have been mostly banned, and resistant varieties or non-host crops are often not available or not profitable. Efficient, sustainable methods for control have become an urgent need. Plants in their agroecosystems are part of multi-organismal associations, called phytobiomes that support them in defence against PPN. Plants modulate the microbiome in their rhizosphere and thereby affect the subsequent plants that are thereafter growing in the same soil. This could be the main reason for the often-reported plant-soil feedback in crop rotations, and might be harnessed in control of PPN. Following the implementation of the strategy for increasing the production of protein crops in Europe, soybean varieties adapted to temperate climate are grown on increasing acreages. We showed that root lesion nematodes (RLN, Pratylenchus spp.) are a major threat for soybean production in Germany. They not only damage the root but also significantly affect symbiotic N2- fixation in the nodules. By inoculating certain rhizosphere microbiomes, we could reduce root invasion and reproduction of RLN on soybean. In this proposed study, we aim to understand this plant-soil feedback of those pre-crops, which modulate the rhizosphere microbiome of soybean in a way that RLN are suppressed. It will be investigated, which microbial taxa in the rhizosphere correlate in abundance with the suppression of RLN, and whether this effect depends on the composition of the initial bulk soil microbiome. We will investigate, how modulated microbiomes suppress RLN (direct or plant-mediated), and how suppressive microbiomes shape the plant response to RLN.