How do beneficial fungi affect the gut microbiota of harmful insects to keep tomatoes healthy?

How do beneficial fungi affect the gut microbiota of harmful insects to keep tomatoes healthy? 🍅🐛

📰 A recent article published by Di Lelio et al. 2023 demonstrates that the resistance of tomato plants to pest insects is driven by a symbiotic soil fungus that alters the insect’s gut microbiota.

🦠 Researchers elucidated the specific mechanisms by which the beneficial soil fungus - Trichoderma afroharzianum - affects the survival of larvae of the moth Spodoptera littorals, a pest insect of major agricultural importance.

📌 Study highlights:
-> larvae fed on leaves from tomato plants colonized by symbiotic fungi exhibited significantly greater mortality,
-> treated larvae showed an alteration in the composition and functionality of the gut microbiota,
-> symbiotic bacterial pathways that were significant for the larvae nutrition (e.g. biosynthesis of amino acids) were altered in treated larvae.

👨‍🌾 The intricate interactions between soil, plants, and microbes shall be carefully considered when developing new approaches for the sustainable management of agroecosystems.

Image: interactions among tomato, Trichoderma afroharzianum, and the gut microbiome of phytophagous insect

(credits: Di Lelio et al. 2023; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2216922120)

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