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<p>Solar-powered hydroponics farming of edible crops is gaining prominence as a sustainable cultivation method. However, growing evidence indicates a significant risk of pathogen emergence in commercial settings, potentially arising from waterborne sources or plant physiological stress. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of understanding the potential of plant-growth promoting and biocontrol traits among microorganisms colonizing the rhizosphere of hydroponically grown crops. In this study, we investigated the culturable rhizosphere microbial communities of three different <i>Lactuca sativa</i> cultivars in controlled green-house hydroponics employing the circulating nutrient-film farming technique with coconut coir as substrate. Over an 8-week growth period, ~ 250 bacterial and fungal strains were isolated. By week 7, the presence of <i>Alternaria</i> sp. SSSB_F2 and <i>Fusarium</i> sp. SSSB_F1 was detected from infected leaves and confirmed to be pathogenic to all <i>L. sativa</i> cultivars. Notably, fungal infections were accompanied by a marked decline in cultivable rhizosphere microbes, suggesting a disruption of root-associated microbial communities. Further, biochemical characterisation of rhizosphere strains followed by 16SrRNA and ITS sequencing led us to identify eight promising biocontrol and plant-growth promoting bacterial strains belonging to S<i>tenotrophomonas</i>, <i>Bacillus</i>, <i>Pseudomonas</i>, <i>Micrococcus</i>, <i>Exiguobacterium</i>, <i>Staphylococcus</i>, and two fungal strains as <i>Trichoderma</i> and <i>Simplicillium</i>. A plant-probiotics consortium was thus formulated based on mutual compatibility and tested for its effects on seedling germination, plant development, and pigmentation. Preliminary trials performed using this consortium to prime <i>L. sativa</i> seeds enhanced seedling germination and plant growth in coconut coir. These findings underscore the importance of harnessing beneficial rhizosphere microbiota enriched during controlled environment agriculture, such as hydroponics, and their potential to enhance plant-growth as well as disease resilience.</p> Graphical abstract

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Culturable rhizospheric microbiota of Lactuca sativa cultivars during nutrient-film farming reveals potential biocontrol and plant-growth promoting traits against commonly infesting fungal pathogens

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年2月12日

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  • Siya Sharma,
  • Bipin Sati,
  • Durgesh Pant,
  • Subhajit Basu

摘要

Solar-powered hydroponics farming of edible crops is gaining prominence as a sustainable cultivation method. However, growing evidence indicates a significant risk of pathogen emergence in commercial settings, potentially arising from waterborne sources or plant physiological stress. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of understanding the potential of plant-growth promoting and biocontrol traits among microorganisms colonizing the rhizosphere of hydroponically grown crops. In this study, we investigated the culturable rhizosphere microbial communities of three different Lactuca sativa cultivars in controlled green-house hydroponics employing the circulating nutrient-film farming technique with coconut coir as substrate. Over an 8-week growth period, ~ 250 bacterial and fungal strains were isolated. By week 7, the presence of Alternaria sp. SSSB_F2 and Fusarium sp. SSSB_F1 was detected from infected leaves and confirmed to be pathogenic to all L. sativa cultivars. Notably, fungal infections were accompanied by a marked decline in cultivable rhizosphere microbes, suggesting a disruption of root-associated microbial communities. Further, biochemical characterisation of rhizosphere strains followed by 16SrRNA and ITS sequencing led us to identify eight promising biocontrol and plant-growth promoting bacterial strains belonging to Stenotrophomonas, Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Micrococcus, Exiguobacterium, Staphylococcus, and two fungal strains as Trichoderma and Simplicillium. A plant-probiotics consortium was thus formulated based on mutual compatibility and tested for its effects on seedling germination, plant development, and pigmentation. Preliminary trials performed using this consortium to prime L. sativa seeds enhanced seedling germination and plant growth in coconut coir. These findings underscore the importance of harnessing beneficial rhizosphere microbiota enriched during controlled environment agriculture, such as hydroponics, and their potential to enhance plant-growth as well as disease resilience.

Graphical abstract