Multiple Chitin- or Avirulent Strain-Triggered Immunity Induces Microbiome Reassembly in Rice

Abstract

Magnaporthe oryzae is one of the most important fungal pathogens of rice. Chitin and avirulent strains can induce two layers of immunity response, pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP)-triggered immunity (PTI) and effector-triggered immunity (ETI), in rice with cognate R genes. However, little is known about the assembly of the rice microbiome induced by PTI and ETI in rice. In this study, we investigate the impact of continuous treatment of the avirulent M. oryzae strain with AvrPi9 and chitin on the bacterial endophytic community of rice varieties harboring resistant gene Pi9 and their antagonistic activity against rice blast fungus. Analysis of the 16S rRNA showed a significant increase in the diversity and microbial co-occurrence network complexity and the number of beneficial taxa—Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Microbacterium, and Stenotrophomonas spp.—following the chitin and avirulent strain treatments. The antifungal assay with bacterial endophytes recovered from the leaves showed few bacteria with antagonistic potential in rice treated with avirulent strains, suggesting that the sequential treatment of the avirulent strain decreased the antagonistic bacteria against M. oryzae. Moreover, we identified Bacillus safensis Ch_66 and Bacillus altitudinis Nc_68 with overall antagonistic activities in vivo and in vitro. Our findings provide a novel insight into rice microbiome assembly in response to different innate immunity reactions.