Bacillus velezensis YC89-mediated recruitment of rhizosphere bacteria improves resistance against sugarcane red rot

Abstract Background Sugarcane red rot is a soil-borne disease caused by Colletotrichum falcatum. It can reduce the yield of sugarcane and the purity of sugarcane juice, which seriously restricts the development of sucrose industry. Biocontrol bacteria can control diseases by regulating rhizosphere microecology. In this study, the effects of biocontrol bacteria on sugarcane rhizosphere microecology were studied by metagenomics and metabolomics, and the control effects of biocontrol bacteria and rhizosphere dominant bacteria on sugarcane red rot were further explored by pot experiment. Results The results of metagenomic sequencing showed that inoculation with B. velezensis YC89 and pathogens could significantly change the microbial diversity of the sugarcane rhizosphere. The relative abundance of beneficial strains such as Streptomyces, Burkholderia, Sphingomonas, and Rhizobium increased significantly in the rhizosphere of sugarcane in the YC treatment group. Pseudomonas was significantly enriched in the rhizosphere of sugarcane in the C treatment group. The results of metabolome sequencing showed that the content of amino acids in sugarcane root exudates increased after inoculation with B. velezensis YC89, and the contents of phenolic acids and flavonoids decreased. Spearman correlation analysis showed that there was a significant correlation between differential metabolites and rhizosphere microorganisms. The results of pot experiment showed that YC89 strain and three rhizosphere microorganisms could significantly reduce the disease index of red rot and promote the growth of sugarcane plants. In addition, these strains can also significantly increase the JA and SA content of sugarcane leaves and induce plant system resistance-related enzyme activities. Among them, the synthetic community treatment group had the best biocontrol effect on red rot, and its relative control effect was 67.50%. Conclusions Therefore, we conclude that B. velezensis YC89 could recruit beneficial rhizosphere microorganisms to enrich the rhizosphere and change the content of some phenolic acids and flavonoids in the root exudates. In addition, the isolated rhizosphere dominant bacteria and YC89 strain can resist red rot by inducing plant systemic resistance and promote the growth of sugarcane plants. This study provides a theoretical basis for the use of biocontrol bacteria to regulate rhizosphere bacteria to jointly control plant soil-borne diseases. Graphical Abstract