Using phages as a precision tool to control bacterial wilt abundance and virulence in the plant rhizosphere microbiome

4 bacteriophages isolated from natural reservoirs have been used as biocontrol agents against the main plant pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum (strain UW551). 3-week old susceptible tomato plants (Moneymaker) were inoculated with the bacterium and 24 hours later with the bacteriophage in individual or double treatments (all pairwise combinations). The experiment was performed in a glasshouse at FERA Science (York, UK). Bacterial wilt symptoms were assessed for 21 days post inoculation and the soil was collected at 22dpi by homogenising the whole pot. 16S rRNA was sequenced using the services of Novogene UK and targeting the region V4.

从自然储存库中分离得到的4株噬菌体（bacteriophage）被用作生物防治剂（biocontrol agent），以防控主要植物病原菌青枯雷尔氏菌（Ralstonia solanacearum，菌株UW551）。本实验以3周龄的易感番茄植株（MoneyMaker品种）为材料，先接种该病原菌，24小时后再接种噬菌体，设置单独处理与联合处理（涵盖所有两两组合）两种实验分组。实验于英国约克的FERA Science公司温室中开展。接种后连续21天对植株的青枯病症状进行评估，并于接种后22天（dpi）通过均质化整盆土壤的方式采集土样。依托英国诺禾致源（Novogene UK）的测序服务，针对16S核糖体RNA（16S rRNA）的V4可变区完成扩增测序。