Tag: Soil Management
Characterizing avocado production systems for Ugandan exports: the need for consolidation and support for sustainable development
Hass avocado production and trade are rapidly expanding globally, with increasing consumer demands on quality, safety and sustainability. Last decade, the contribution of East Africa has increased tremendously following several comparative advantages. However, despite substantial recent public and private investments, Uganda’s Hass production and export lags behind neighboring countries. This is mainly due to the sector’s limited organization, resulting in a fragmented market with varying socio-economic,
Avocado rhizosphere community profiling: white root rot and its impact on microbial composition
Introduction: The avocado rhizosphere supports diverse microbial communities essential for plant health and defence against pathogens. This study aimed to investigate the impact of Dematophora necatrix, the causal agent of white root rot (WRR), on the microbial composition and soil physicochemical properties of infected and non-infected avocado trees in two South African orchards.Methods: ITS and 16S metabarcoding was used to compare the composition and diversity of the rhizosphere microbiome. Soil
Bacterial community shifts in Fusarium-induced avocado root rot and the antagonistic potential of Bacillus siamensis NB92
Avocado root rot, driven by soil-borne fungi such as Fusarium spp., poses a major challenge to global avocado production. The rhizosphere microbiome is critical for plant health, yet the impact of root rot on bacterial community structure and its implications for disease management remain poorly understood. Here, we combined culture-independent 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing with culture-dependent isolation to characterize bacterial communities in healthy and Fusarium-infested avocado bulk and rhizosphere
Phytophthora root rot induces compositional and functional changes in avocado rhizosphere bacterial communities
Understanding how plant pathogens modulate the rhizosphere microbiota is essential to integrated disease management. Here, we assessed the compositional and functional shifts in the avocado rhizosphere bacteriome induced by Phytophthora cinnamomi to elucidate the microbial functions modulated by the infection and identify taxa potentially recruited by the plant as a defense response. Through metabarcoding with metatranscriptomics, we showed that Phytophthora root rot (PRR) induced compositional shifts
Different soil sampling designs influence the diversity and drivers of the avocado rhizosphere bacterial and fungal communities
The variability of the rhizosphere microbial community has not been well-studied in avocado plantations at the field-scale. This research aimed to determine if the bacterial and fungal communities in the rhizosphere and/or the soil physicochemical properties from two commercial avocado orchards varied with different sampling designs (grid-based, longitudinal transect, and zigzag transect), and in turn if this changed the soil physicochemical properties driving the composition of the microbial communities.
Fungal dynamics and biocontrol potential in Fusarium-induced avocado root rot soil
PURPOSE: Fusarium-induced root rot poses a significant threat to avocado production, yet the mechanisms linking fungal community dynamics and biocontrol potential in affected soils remain unclear. This study aimed to compare fungal community composition, diversity, enzyme activities, and potential biocontrol agents in healthy and diseased avocado soils. METHODS: We employed high-throughput sequencing, quantitative PCR, soil physicochemical and enzymatic analyses—including β-glucosidase, urease,