Tillage and fertilization are common practices used to enhance soil fertility and increase yield. Changes in soil edaphic properties associated with different tillage and fertility regimes have been widely examined, yet, the microbially mediated pathways and ecological niches involved in enhancing soil fertility are poorly understood. The effects of long-term conventional tillage and no-till in parallel with three fertility treatments (No fertilization, N-only, and NPK) on soil microbial communities were investigated in a long-term field study that was established in the 1970's. Here, we used highthroughput sequencing of bacterial, fungal and oomycetes markers, followed by community-level functional and ecological assembly to discern principles governing tillage and fertility practices' influence on associated soil microbiomes. Both tillage and fertilizer significantly altered microbial community structure, but the tillage effect was more prominent than the fertilizer effect. Tillage significantly affected bacteria, fungi, fusaria, and oomycete beta-diversity, whereas fertilizer only affected bacteria and fungi beta-diversity. In our study different tillage and fertilizer regimes favored specific networks of metabolic pathways and distinct ecological guilds. No-till selected for beneficial microbes that translocate nutrients and resources and protect the host against pathogens. Notably, ecological guilds featuring arbuscular mycorrhizae, mycoparasites, and nematophagous fungi were favored in no-till soils, while fungal saprotrophs and plant pathogens dominated in tilled soils. Conventional till and fertilizer management shifted the communities toward fast growing competitors. Copiotrophic bacteria and fusarium species were favored under conventional tillage and in the presence of fertilizers. The analysis of the metagenomes revealed a higher abundance of predicted pathways associated with energy metabolism, translation, metabolism of cofactors and vitamins, glycan biosynthesis and nucleotide metabolism in no-till. Furthermore, no specific pathways were found to be enriched under the investigated fertilization

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Sudden death syndrome (SDS) caused by Fusarium virguliforme is among the most important diseases affecting soybean in the United States. The use of biological control agents (BCAs) such as Trichoderma spp. can be a valuable resource to suppress F. virguliforme populations. Therefore, this research focused on screening possible BCAs against F. virguliforme and evaluating mycoparasitism and the induction of systemic resistance as mechanisms underlying the antagonistic activity of selected BCAs against F. virguliforme. In total, 47 potential BCAs, including 41 Trichoderma isolates and 6 Mortierella isolates, were screened in a dual-plate assay. The most effective isolates belonged to the Trichoderma harzianum species and were able to inhibit F. virguliforme radial growth by up to 92%. Selected Trichoderma isolates were tested in the greenhouse and in a microplot study. They reduced root rot caused by F. virguliforme when the plants were coinoculated with the pathogen and the BCA. The tested BCA’s ability to reduce F. virguliforme growth may be related to several mechanisms of action, including mycoparasitism and induction of defense-related genes in plants, as revealed by monitoring the expression of defense-related genes in soybean. Our results highlight the potential of native Trichoderma isolates to inhibit F. virguliforme growth and reduce SDS severity, providing the basis for future implementation of biological control in soybean production. More efforts are needed to implement the use of these approaches in production fields, and to deepen the current knowledge on the biology of these highly antagonistic isolates.

The soybean cyst nematode (SCN; Heterodera glycines Ichinohe) is a major soybean-yield-limiting soil-borne pathogen, especially in the Midwestern US. Weed management is recommended for SCN integrated management, since some weed species have been reported to be hosts for SCN. The increase in the occurrence of resistance to herbicides complicates weed management and may further direct ecological–evolutionary (eco–evo) feedbacks in plant–pathogen complexes, including interactions between host plants and SCN. In this review, we summarize weed species reported to be hosts of SCN in the US and outline potential weed–SCN management interactions. Plants from 23 families have been reported to host SCN, with Fabaceae including most host species. Out of 116 weeds hosts, 14 species have known herbicide-resistant biotypes to 8 herbicide sites of action. Factors influencing the ability of weeds to host SCN are environmental and edaphic conditions, SCN initial inoculum, weed population levels, and variations in susceptibility of weed biotypes to SCN within a population. The association of SCN on weeds with relatively little fitness cost incurred by the latter may decrease the competitive ability of the crop and increase weed reproduction when SCN is present, feeding back into the probability of selecting for herbicide-resistant weed biotypes. Therefore, proper management of weed hosts of SCN should be a focus of integrated pest management (IPM) strategies to prevent further eco–evo feedbacks in the cropping system.

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