The phyllosphere supports a tremendous diversity of microbes, which have the potential to influence plant biogeography and ecosystem function. Although biocontrol agents (BCAs) have been used extensively for controlling plant diseases, the ecological effects of BCAs on phyllosphere bacteria and the relationships between phyllosphere community and plant health are poorly understood. In this study, we explored the control efficiency of two BCA communities on bacterial wildfire disease by repeatedly spraying BCAs on tobacco leaves. The results of field tests showed that BCAs used in our study, especially BCA_B, had remarkable control effects against tobacco wildfire disease. The higher control efficiency of BCA_B might be attributed to a highly diverse and complex community in the phyllosphere. By 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing, we found that phyllosphere microbial community, including community diversity, taxonomic composition and microbial interactions, changed significantly by application of BCAs. According to the correlation analysis, it showed that wildfire disease infection of plants was negatively related to phyllosphere microbial diversity, indicating a highly diverse community in the phyllosphere might prevent pathogens invasion and colonization. In addition, we inferred that a more complex network in the phyllosphere might be beneficial for decreasing the chances of bacterial wildfire outbreak, and the genera of Pantoea and Sphingomonas might play important roles in wildfire disease suppression. These correlations between phyllosphere community and plant health will improve our understanding on the ecological function of phyllosphere community on plants.
Keywords: Biocontrol agent; Community diversity; Molecular ecology networks; Phyllosphere microbiota; Tobacco wildfire disease.