Bacterial-Fungal Interactions Under Agricultural Settings: From Physical to Chemical Interactions

Author: mycolabadmin
2022-06-01
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Summary

This research explores how bacteria and fungi interact in agricultural settings and how these interactions can be used to protect crops from diseases naturally. Instead of using chemical pesticides, scientists are studying how beneficial microorganisms can be used to control harmful plant pathogens. Understanding these interactions is crucial for developing more sustainable farming practices. Impacts on everyday life: • Helps develop natural alternatives to chemical pesticides for crop protection • Contributes to safer and more sustainable food production methods • Could lead to reduced chemical residues in food products • May help reduce environmental pollution from agricultural chemicals • Could result in more cost-effective farming practices through biological pest control

Background

Bacteria and fungi are dominant members of environmental microbiomes. Their interactions and mutual regulation are crucial for ecosystem functioning and health. These interactions can be highly dynamic and range from antagonism to mutualism, requiring spatiotemporally resolved assessments to understand their interplay. Many of these interactions, especially the underlying chemical and molecular mechanisms crucial for inter-kingdom communication and interference, remain poorly understood.

Objective

To summarize current advances in bacterial-fungal interactions (BFIs) with emphasis on agriculture, including physical interactions, chemical interactions, and their applications in biological control and synthetic communities. The review aims to provide insights into mechanisms underpinning bacteria-fungi interactions to improve biological pest control and better understand complex microbial community networks.

Results

The review identified multiple interaction mechanisms between bacteria and fungi, including physical attachment, chemical signaling, and metabolite exchange. Key findings include the role of endofungal bacteria in pathogenicity, the importance of volatile organic compounds in long-distance communication, and the potential of synthetic communities for biological control. The study revealed that bacterial-fungal interactions can significantly influence plant health and agricultural productivity through various mechanisms including antibiosis, induced resistance, and microbiome modulation.

Conclusion

Understanding bacterial-fungal interactions is crucial for developing effective biological control strategies and constructing synthetic communities for agricultural applications. Future research should focus on exploring unculturable microbes through multi-omics approaches and developing mathematical models to predict community dynamics. The integration of microbial ecology, metagenomics, and other technologies will be essential for constructing stable and effective synthetic communities for agricultural applications.

Published in:Stress Biology,
Study Type:Review,
Source: 10.1007/s44154-022-00046-1