Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Lubbock, Texas » Cropping Systems Research Laboratory » Plant Stress and Germplasm Development Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #420181

Research Project: Development of Climate Resilient Germplasm and Management Tools for Sustainable Row Crop Production

Location: Plant Stress and Germplasm Development Research

Title: Combating Fusarium wilt race 4 (FOV4) infection in cotton by examining soil microbial communities

Author
item Jobe, Timothy
item LAASI, ILHAM - Center Of Biotechnology Of Sfax
item ABDELRAHMAN, MOSTAFA - Texas Tech University
item FOKAR, MOHAMED - Texas Tech University
item Ulloa, Mauricio

Submitted to: National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/9/2024
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Cotton (Gossypium spp.) is the most important natural and renewal fiber crop in the world. However, existing and emerging disease is increasingly threatened field production. Soil-borne pathogens such as Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum race 4 (FOV4) are among them. Within the U.S., FOV4 has been identified in the cotton growing regions of California, far West Texas, and New Mexico. Understanding the complex relationships and interactions between these devasting pathogens and soil microbial communities and their environment is crucial for developing and maintaining disease-resistance in plants. In this study, we investigated the soil elemental composition and soil microbial-communities and their diversity in five cotton fields (F1 to F5) in the far west Texas region of El Paso County, focusing on soils that exhibit either suppressive (no diseased plants) or inductive (diseased plants) behavior toward FOV. Elemental/metal analysis revealed significant variations in aluminum (Al), calcium (Ca), and iron (Fe) concentrations between fields. A molecular microbial diversity analysis using ITS amplicon-based metagenomics also identified distinct differences between suppressive (F3 and F4) and inductive (F1, F2, and F5) soils. Interestingly, taxonomic profiling revealed a higher diversity of fungal communities in suppressive soils, with notable genera such as Actinomucor, Fusarium, and Penicillium being more prevalent in F4. Conversely, the inductive soils showed an abundance of Alternaria, Cladosporium, and Stachybotrys, genera often linked to plant pathogenicity or soil colonization, likely contributing to the inductive properties of these soils. These results suggest that suppressive soils support more diverse and complex microbial communities, which may play a role in inhibiting FOV and other pathogens. This study offers valuable insights into the relationship between soil microbiome composition and FOV disease suppression and could pave the way to more sustainable cotton cultivation practices as well as a better understanding of maintaining disease-resistance in plants.