ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbe and Virus Interactions with Plants
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1639396
This article is part of the Research TopicEpigenetic modification in plant-pathogen interactions: Role, Mechanism, Disease ManagementView all articles
Bacillus velezensis QSE-21 cell-free supernatant primes resistance and outperforms live cells in controlling Botrytis cinerea on tomato
Provisionally accepted
- College of Plant Health and Medicine, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, China
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Biological control agents (BCAs) offer an environmentally friendly alternative to chemical pesticides for managing plant diseases. However, the efficacy of live microbial BCAs is often constrained by ecological factors. Cell-free supernatants (CFSs), derived from BCA fermentation, contain most active biocontrol compounds responsible for disease suppression and can be directly applied without introducing living organisms into the environment. In our previous study, we demonstrated that the CFS from Bacillus velezensis QSE-21 (CFS-Q) directly inhibits the growth and development of Botrytis cinerea. Here, we further demonstrated that CFS-Q induced systemic resistance in tomato plants and fruits against B. cinerea. Application of CFS-Q triggered immune responses in tomato seedlings, conferring enhanced local and systemic resistance against B. cinerea without direct pathogen contact. Comparative transcriptomics revealed that CFS-Q treatment activated multiple immune signalling pathways in tomato, regardless of B. cinerea inoculation. This immune priming effect translated into significantly faster and stronger defensive reactions against B. cinerea attack.Notably, compared to spraying live QSE-21 cells, spraying CFS-Q exhibited superior efficacy in controlling B. cinerea on tomato fruits. Thus, our results suggest that CFS-Q is a promising candidate for the development of BCAs to manage tomato grey mould disease.
Keywords: Bacillus velezensis, Cell-free supernatant, Tomato grey mould, Transcriptomics, immune priming
Received: 02 Jun 2025; Accepted: 18 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gao, Han, Yang, Liu, Liang and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Mengjie Liu, College of Plant Health and Medicine, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, China
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