Unraveling the complex interactions between microorganisms across kingdoms to delineate the pathobiomes in soil that contribute to the development of wilt diseases

Conventional microbiology considered disease-causing agents as a singular organism, denoted as a pathogen. However, in nature microorganisms are never alone, and they work cooperatively with other microorganisms that share their niche. This is especially true for soil-dwelling plant pathogens. Our lab’s research at Texas A&M shows the first evidence of physical “pathobiome”. That is, we show that several microorganisms physically bind to the pathogen and move together as a singular unit (despite being a multispecies-aggregation). This partnership between the pathogen and its specific microbiome is termed the pathobiome. Until now, pathobiomes have been only suggested to exist in theory through computational networks and co-occurrence models.

1. Evaluate the specificity of the bacteriome that binds and protects soil-borne pathogenic fungi, and

2. Decipher the functions of the fungal pathobiome.

1. Predict disease risk to help growers, evaluate the risks of yield loss, and

2. Develop novel methods to control the disease by controlling the pathobiomes from forming, when the pathogen is resistant to other treatments, like in the case of most Fusarium wilts.