The multilevel interplay among soil - plant - herbivore microbiota under the effect of pesticides with antibiotic effects in the system maize - fall armyworm.

• Grant number: 23/16516-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: February 01, 2024
• End date: January 31, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Plant Health
• Principal Investigator: Fernando Luis Cônsoli
• Grantee: Tatiane Aparecida Domingues da Silva
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/10573-4 - Center for Carbon Research in Tropical Agriculture (CCARBON), AP.CEPID

Abstract

The soil bacteria community is long known to interfere with the health of plants and with theresponse of plants to microbial diseases. Soils enriched with bacteria belonging to Actinobacteria,Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria provide a better substrate for plant development, and these bacterial groups have been strongly associated with the disease-suppresive capacity of soils. The role of soil bacteria to suppress plant infections with pathogens has also been extended to other types of pests, such as insects. Soil bacteria have been shown to alter leaf metabolomes, and the gut bacteria of insects are affected by the metabolome of the food source as they also contribute to insect nutrition, especially when exploiting suboptimal diets. Bacteria have also been shown to prime the plant immune system, rendering plants that are more resistant to diseases and insect attack. But toxicity of pesticides to bacteria, as well other members of the soil biota is not uncommon, which can interfere with the balanced interplay of soilbacteria - plant - insect pests. Plant endophytes provide metabolites to plant and also act on theactivation and regulation of plant genes, enhancing the growth of plants and inducing several other physiological alterations that affect plant interactions with the second and third trophic levels. Pesticides are also reported to act as potent plant stressors and interfere with plant physiology. Pesticides may even lead to the elimination of important endophytes, interfering with plant health and growth and, ultimately, its overall consumption of carbon dioxide. Investigatiing this intricatemultisystem association and deciphering the cascading impacts pesticides can have on the soil - plant - insect pest association will certainly made an relevant contribution to foster the implementation of a sustainable carbon-based agriculture.