Seed Coating with Thyme Essential Oil or Paraburkholderia phytofirmans PsJN Strain: Conferring Septoria Leaf Blotch Resistance and Promotion of Yield and Grain Isotopic Composition in Wheat

Abstract

Septoria leaf blotch (SLB) is considered one of the most devastating diseases affecting global wheat production. Biostimulant application is among the modern approaches in plant protection to overcome the impact of SLB’s fungicide resistance. In this manner, the effect of coating seeds with thyme essential oil or Paraburkholderia phytofirmansPsJN strain on SLB severity and yield components (spikes/m2, straw yield (SY), grain yield (GY) and thousand kernel weight (TKW)) were assessed under field conditions for 3 years. The effect on physiological traits and nitrogen and carbon isotope composition (δ15Ngrain, δ13Cgrain) and nitrogen and carbon content (Ngrain, Cgrain) of grains was assessed in one year of study. The increasing SLB severity decreased all yield components, increased δ15Ngrain and Cgrain content and slightly decreased δ13Cgrain as the resulting effect of Z.tritici inducing stomatal opening and leaf necrosis. Across the years, both treatments alleviated the SLB adverse impact by reducing SLB severity, increasing spikes/m2, SY, GY and TKW. Both treatments ameliorated grain quality by increasing Cgrain content and decreasing δ13Cgrain and δ15Ngrain. The difference between the performance of thyme oil or PsJN strain in terms of intensity and stability is discussed and considered to be linked to the different triggered systemic resistance and the associated amount of costs deriving from resource allocation towards defense processes.

Exploring the Potential of Meyerozyma guilliermondii on Physiological Performances and Defense Response against Fusarium Crown Rot on Durum Wheat

“…Seed coating with beneficial microorganisms has been proposed as a very effective approach to promote durum wheat yield [ 8 ]. Previous studies demonstrated that treatment with M. guilliermondii improves maize ( Zea mays L.) productivity and reduces the needs for chemical fertilization [ 20 ].…”

“…In details, surface-sterilized seeds were soaked in the conidial suspension of F. culmorum or in sterile distilled water containing 0.05% Tween 20 as the non-infected control. The soaking seeds were kept for 16 h in the dark at 25 °C [ 8 ]. Afterwards, both infected and non-infected seeds were coated with M. guilliermondii filtrate as described by [ 8 ].…”

“…The soaking seeds were kept for 16 h in the dark at 25 °C [ 8 ]. Afterwards, both infected and non-infected seeds were coated with M. guilliermondii filtrate as described by [ 8 ]. The coating product Agicote Rouge T17 (AEGILOPS Applications, France) was used, playing the role of the adhesion product, containing propane-1,2-diol (5–10%), polyethylene glycol mono (tristyrylphenyl) ether (5–10%), and 1,2-benzisothiasol 3(2H)-one (0.0357).…”

“…Thus, novel and integrated management approaches against F. culmorum have been developed and tested [ 7 ]. In fact, seed priming using biostimulants, as seed coating agents, was used to induce germination, abscisic acid to improve emergence of seedlings [ 8 , 9 , 10 ], and to induce mechanisms of plant disease resistance [ 11 ].…”

Toward a Sustainable Agriculture Through Plant Biostimulants: From Experimental Data to Practical Applications

“…The authors concluded that soy flour provided a sustained source of key amino acids, thus positively influencing N uptake and transplant quality. Furthermore, Ben-Jabeur et al [24] conducted a three-year experiment on durum wheat aiming to assess the effect of coating wheat seeds with thyme essential oil or Paraburkholderia phytofirmans PsJN strain on yield and resistance/tolerance to spetoria leaf botch. The two tested biostimulants were able to alleviate the Septoria leaf botch and to enhance yield in terms of number of spikes per square meter as well as straw and grain yields.…”