Defining the wheat microbiome: towards microbiome-facilitated crop production

Wheat is one of the world’s most important crops, but its production relies heavily on agrochemical inputs which are notoriously harmful to the environment. It is well known that a multitude of microbes interact with eukaryotic organisms, including plants, and the sum of microbes and their functions associated with a given host is termed the microbiome. Plant-microbe interactions can be beneficial, neutral or harmful to the host plant. Over the last decade, with the development of next generation DNA sequencing technology, our understanding of the plant microbiome structure has dramatically increased. Considering that defining the wheat microbiome is key to leverage crop production in a sustainable way, here we describe how different factors drive microbiome assembly in wheat, including crop management, edaphic-environmental conditions and host selection. In addition, we highlight the benefits to take a multidisciplinary approach to define and explore the wheat core microbiome to generate solutions based on microbial (synthetic) communities or single inoculants. Advances in plant microbiome research will facilitate the development of microbial strategies to guarantee a sustainable intensification of crop production

Potencial de Pseudomonas sp. psicrotolerantes isoladas da Antártica no biocontrole de Botrytis cinerea.

Resumo: A Antártica, por ser um ambiente extremo, comporta micro-organismos que podem ter características interessantes, como crescimento a baixas temperaturas (psicrotolerância), além da produção de compostos antimicrobianos. Como também a possibilidade de aplicação desses micro-organismos no controle de fitopatogenos que se desenvolveu em baixas temperaturas, como é o caso de Botrytis cinerea, que ataca dezenas de culturas agrícolas em zonas temperadas. O morango, Fragaria vesca, é comumente atacado por este fungo, causando a doença conhecida como podridão cinzenta, principalmente durante a pós-colheita. Desta forma, o objetivo deste trabalho foi prospectar bactérias isoladas da Antártica e avaliar o potencial de inibição deste fitopatogeno. Assim foram testadas 56 bactérias sendo que 42% apresentaram melhor crescimento a 4°C. 4 dessas pertencentes ao gênero Pseudomonas, sendo que a linhagem 44-4 (Pseudomonas Syringae), foi capaz de controlar o desenvolvimento do fungo em morango (4°C). Demonstra-se, portanto, a possibilidade de prospecção de bactérias Psicrofilicas com potencial de reduzir o crescimento de fungos a baixa temperatura. Ensaios estão sendo feitos para elucidação dos compostos químicos responsáveis por este efeito. Abstract: Antarctica, being an extreme environment, includes micro-organisms that may have interesting features, such as growth at low temperatures (psicrotolerância), besides the production of antimicrobial compounds. As well as the possibility of application of these micro-organisms to control plant pathogens that developed at low temperatures, as is the case of Botrytis cinerea, attacking dozens of agricultural crops in temperate zones. The strawberry, Fragaria vesca, is commonly attacked by this fungus causing the disease known as gray mold, especially during post-harvest. Thus, the objective was to prospect for bacteria isolated from Antarctica and evaluate the potential inhibition of this pathogen. So were tested 56 bacteria and 42% showed better growth at 4°C. Four of these belonging to the genus Pseudomonas, and the line 44-4 (Pseudomonas syringae) was able to control the development of the fungus in strawberry (4°C). It is shown so the prospectivity of Psychrophilic bacteria with potential to reduce the fungal growth at low temperature. Tests are being made to elucidation of the chemical compounds responsible for this effect

Draft genome sequence of Bacillus sp. strain CMAA 1185, a cellullolytic bacterium isolated from Stain House Lake, Antarctic Peninsula.

The aim of this study was to report the genome sequence of the cellulolytic Bacillus sp. strain CMAA 1185, isolated from Stain House Lake, Antarctica