Microbiota of maize kernels as influenced by Aspergillus flavus infection in susceptible and resistant inbreds

. In this study, we silk-inoculated field-grown maize separately with a non-aflatoxigenic biocontrol strain (K49), a highly toxigenic strain (Tox4), and a combination of both A. flavus strains. Two maize inbreds were treated, A. flavus-susceptible B73 and A. flavus-resistant CML322. We assessed the impacts of A. flavus introduction on the epibiota and endobiota of their maize kernels and found that the native microbial communities were significantly affected, irrespective of genotype or sampled tissue. Overall, bacteriomes exhibited greater diversity of genera than mycobiomes. The abundance of certain genera was unchanged by treatment, including genera of bacteria (e.g., Enterobacter, Pantoea) and fungi (e.g., Sarocladium, Meyerozyma) that are known to be beneficial, antagonistic, or both on plant growth and health. Beneficial microbes like Sarocladium that responded well to A. flavus biocontrol strains are expected to enhance biocontrol efficacy, while also displacing/antagonizing harmful microbes.

在本项研究中，我们将非黄曲霉毒素产性生物防治菌株（K49）、高毒性菌株（Tox4）以及两种黄曲霉菌株的组合，分别接种于田间种植的玉米上。对两种玉米自交系进行了处理，分别为黄曲霉易感型B73和黄曲霉抗性型CML322。我们评估了黄曲霉引入对其玉米籽粒的共生生物和内共生生物的影响，发现无论基因型或取样组织如何，原生微生物群落均受到显著影响。总体而言，细菌群落相较于真菌群落展现了更丰富的属多样性。某些属的丰度未受到处理的影响，包括已知对植物生长和健康有益、拮抗或两者兼具的细菌属（如肠杆菌、泛菌）和真菌属（如座囊菌、梅耶酵母菌）。对黄曲霉生物防治菌株反应良好的有益微生物，如座囊菌，预计将增强生物防治效果，同时取代/拮抗有害微生物。