Root-secreted leucine is associated with the recruitment of
- 1Henan Tobacco Company Luohe Branch, Luohe, 462000, the People's Republic of China
- 2School of Biology and Food, Shangqiu Normal University, Shangqiu, 476000, the People's Republic of China
- 3School of Biology and Food, Shangqiu Normal University, Shangqiu, 476000, the People's Republic of China; Corresponding author.
Abstract
Tobacco root rot is mainly a soil-borne disease caused by fungi such as Fusarium oxysporum, and it reduces both yield and quality. Traditional chemical control is effective but often leaves residues, whereas biological control, although environmentally safe, still suffers from poor colonization of beneficial microbes in the rhizosphere and unstable control efficacy in the field. Plant root exudate metabolites are recognized as crucial mediators that enhance the colonization of beneficial microorganisms. Despite this recognized importance, a deeper understanding of how metabolome-driven colonization of probiotics specifically determines plant resistance against soil-borne diseases is still lacking. Here, we first isolated, screened, and identified a probiotic strain, Bacillus subtilis HJ1-29, with antagonistic activity against the pathogenic fungus Fusarium sp . We then screened the root exudates for prebiotics that improve the colonization of HJ1-29 and identified leucine. We further examined the underlying mechanisms and found that leucine improved the chemotaxis and biofilm formation of HJ1-29, and the combination of HJ1-29 and leucine reduced spore production and altered the mycelial morphology of the fungal pathogen. Finally, pot experiments showed that the leucine-HJ1-29 treatment had the lowest disease index among all treatments, with a control efficacy of 97.8%, and increased the activities of PAL and POD in tobacco leaves. Overall, our results suggest that root-secreted leucine is associated with the recruitment of probiotic B. subtilis HJ1-29 and contributes to the suppression of the pathogen and to the control of Fusarium root rot. This study provides new insights into the use of functional synbiotics as a promising strategy for manipulating plant-microbiome interactions in sustainable agriculture.
Related
- New insights into root 2-naphtholic acid exudation, microbiome recruitment, and designing of drought-smart future crops
- Beyond the Axenic Culture Filtrate Secretome: BONCAT and conventional proteomics together reveal the Infection-associated secreted protein repertoire of Acinetobacter baumannii in the human lung Epithelial cell line A549
- An in vivo resource of age-regulated C. elegans intestinal secretory-pathway proteins highlights secreted enzymes associated with lifespan regulation
- Protocol for studying membrane protein dynamics and associated synaptic vesicle recruitment on native membrane sheets
- Galectin-1 deficiency attenuates imiquimod-induced psoriasiform skin inflammation and is associated with reduced macrophage recruitment
BibTeX
@article{chen2026rootsecreted,
title = {{Root-secreted leucine is associated with the recruitment of}},
author = {Chong Chen and Fangfang Jia and Lingling Zhao and Zhanying Fu and Jiale Wang and Ruixin Fu},
journal = {Biological Control},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.biocontrol.2026.106166},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2026.106166},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Root-secreted leucine is associated with the recruitment of
AU - Chong Chen
AU - Fangfang Jia
AU - Lingling Zhao
AU - Zhanying Fu
AU - Jiale Wang
AU - Ruixin Fu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/30
JO - Biological Control
DO - 10.1016/j.biocontrol.2026.106166
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2026.106166
AB - Tobacco root rot is mainly a soil-borne disease caused by fungi such as Fusarium oxysporum, and it reduces both yield and quality. Traditional chemical control is effective but often leaves residues, whereas biological control, although environmentally safe, still suffers from poor colonization of beneficial microbes in the rhizosphere and unstable control efficacy in the field. Plant root exudate metabolites are recognized as crucial mediators that enhance the colonization of beneficial microorganisms. Despite this recognized importance, a deeper understanding of how metabolome-driven colonization of probiotics specifically determines plant resistance against soil-borne diseases is still lacking. Here, we first isolated, screened, and identified a probiotic strain, Bacillus subtilis HJ1-29, with antagonistic activity against the pathogenic fungus Fusarium sp . We then screened the root exudates for prebiotics that improve the colonization of HJ1-29 and identified leucine. We further examined the underlying mechanisms and found that leucine improved the chemotaxis and biofilm formation of HJ1-29, and the combination of HJ1-29 and leucine reduced spore production and altered the mycelial morphology of the fungal pathogen. Finally, pot experiments showed that the leucine-HJ1-29 treatment had the lowest disease index among all treatments, with a control efficacy of 97.8%, and increased the activities of PAL and POD in tobacco leaves. Overall, our results suggest that root-secreted leucine is associated with the recruitment of probiotic B. subtilis HJ1-29 and contributes to the suppression of the pathogen and to the control of Fusarium root rot. This study provides new insights into the use of functional synbiotics as a promising strategy for manipulating plant-microbiome interactions in sustainable agriculture.
SN - 1049-9644
SN - 1090-2112
ER -