Tomato-associated microbes in response to Meloidogyne incognita and Pseudomonas protegens strain CHA0

This study was designed to follow the microbial changes associated with the parasitism of the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita on tomato plants in the presence and absence of Pseudomonas protegens strain CHA0. We found that the lower nematode parasitism in the absence of P. protegens CHA0 was associated with an enrichment of some nematode-suppressive microbial taxa such as Flavobacterium, Hydrogenophaga and Variovorax, while the higher nematode parasitism in the presence of P. protegens CHA0 was associated with depletion of Bacillus, Lysobacter, Devosia and Rhizobium. In addition, Psudomonas was the most abundant bacterial genus in the endosphere of plants co-inoculated with M. incognita and P. protegens CHA0.