Identifying bacterial and fungal communities associated with Fusarium-wilt Symptomatic and Non-symptomatic 'Gros Michel' Banana plants in Ecuador Leveraging Microbial Insights: Metataxonomic Analysis of Symptomatic and Non-Symptomatic 'Gros Michel' Banana Plants for Advancing Fusarium Wilt Management in Ecuador

Estefany Margarita Paredes Salgado^1,2Fiama E Guevara³Francisco Javier Flores^2,4Carlos Muentes⁵Freddy Magdama^6*

• ¹Centro de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas del Ecuador (CIBE), Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL), Guayaquil, Ecuador
• ²Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida y la Agricultura, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas - ESPE, Salgolqui, Ecuador
• ³Centro de Estudios de Posgrado, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas - ESPE, Salgolqui, Ecuador
• ⁴Facultad de Ciencias de la Ingeniería e Industrias, Centro de Investigación de Alimentos, Universidad UTE, Quito, Ecuador
• ⁵Agencia de Regulación y Control Fito y Zoosanitario (AGROCALIDAD), Quito, Pichincha, Ecuador
• ⁶Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL), Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador

Fusarium wilt of banana (FWB), caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc), remains a critical threat to banana production worldwide. Despite the persistence of the disease in fields planted with susceptible cultivars such as 'Gros Michel', little is known about the microbial interactions influencing symptom development. In this study, we assessed the bacterial and fungal communities associated to symptomatic and non-symptomatic ‘Gros Michel’ bananas plants sampled in Ecuador banana fields affected by Foc race 1. We aimed to compare their diversity, composition, and to identify potential microbial taxa that could be active in disease suppression. Samples were collected from the pseudostem, rhizome, and rhizosphere, and analyzed through high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA and ITS2 regions to characterize bacterial and fungal communities, respectively.Results revealed that non-symptomatic plants harbored significantly higher bacterial diversity, particularly in pseudostem and rhizome tissues, compared to symptomatic plants. Genera including, Bacillus, Enterobacter, Paenibacillus, Pectobacterium, Herbaspirillum and Pseudomonas were enriched in non-symptomatic tissues, suggesting a potential role in disease suppression. In contrast, symptomatic plants showed an increased abundance of genera such as Klebsiella and Kosakonia. Fungal community shifts were less pronounced, indicating that bacterial dynamics may play a more critical role in disease development. These findings shed light on the key microbial taxa associated with FWB-affected banana plants and the potential role of their microbiome to plant health and disease suppression.