{"id":15509,"date":"2026-06-20T12:43:46","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:43:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/unlocking-the-diversity-of-microorganisms-around-banana-roots\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T20:32:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T20:32:26","slug":"unlocking-the-diversity-of-microorganisms-around-banana-roots","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/unlocking-the-diversity-of-microorganisms-around-banana-roots\/","title":{"rendered":"Unlocking the diversity of microorganisms around banana roots"},"content":{"rendered":"

The human body hosts trillions of microorganisms both inside and on the skin. Many of them are beneficial and help in the digestion of food, making vitamins, and boosting the body\u2019s immune systems, among other things. Similarly, for plants, the soils around the roots host diverse microorganisms, some of which are beneficial to the plants, including strengthening their resistance to diseases and pests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Stump
Stump of infected banana tree.
Source: Viljoen, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A team at\u00a0IITA<\/a>\u00a0is unraveling the diversity of microorganisms found in the soils and around the roots of banana plants that are healthy and infected with the deadly Fusarium wilt of banana, also called Panama disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This study is part of efforts to tap into the beneficial microorganisms to aid in controlling this deadly disease threatening banana production in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and, in turn, the food security and income of millions of farmers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Panama disease is caused by the soil-borne fungus\u00a0Fusarium oxysporum<\/em>\u00a0f. sp.\u00a0cubense<\/em>\u00a0(Foc). There are four strains of the disease, Foc races 1\u20134. Soil-borne race 1 is present everywhere in sub-Saharan Africa, whereas the deadlier Foc race 4 (TR4) is present only in Mozambique. There are fears that it will spread to other parts of the continent with devastating consequences. Foc race 1 kills some dessert bananas like Sukali Ndizi, Silk, and Gros Michel, while TR4 kills the Cavendish banana as well. There are no effective fungicides or other chemicals for its control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research team found that bacterial and fungal communities present in roots and corms were colonized from the rhizosphere\u2014the thin soil layer adhering to the roots. Also, banana plants selectively promote colonization or establishment by specific bacterial and fungal communities from the rhizosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team identified 129 bacterial and 37 fungal genera of known taxa, including some well-known beneficial strains. These included\u00a0Actinomycetales<\/em>, which are known to produce various metabolic compounds that help to suppress various plant and soil-borne pathogens. Others were\u00a0Pseudomonadales,<\/em>\u00a0well known to be responsible for beneficial plant-microbe interactions, and\u00a0Streptomycetaceae<\/em>, which are known to produce antagonistic compounds against various plant pathogens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the first study to describe an inventory of bacterial and fungal communities associated with the components of asymptomatic and symptomatic banana plants infected by Foc race 1. The findings were published in the paper\u00a0Unlocking the Microbiome Communities of Banana (Musa<\/em>\u00a0spp.) under Disease Stressed (Fusarium<\/em>\u00a0wilt) and Non-Stressed Conditions<\/a>\u00a0in Plant Microorganisms\u00a0MDPI\u00a0<\/em>(https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/microorganisms8030443<\/a>) on 20 March 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Discolored
Discolored leaves of infected
banana tree. Source: Viljoen, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This study demonstrates the complexity of bacterial and fungal communities, which possibly interact among themselves (microbe\u2013microbe) and with the banana (host\u2013microbe interactions).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese cross talks may affect banana plant growth, but they may also result in induced resistance. It is, therefore, useful to study the banana microbiome in commercial plantations where banana plants are treated with inorganic fertilizers and pesticides and compare these communities with our findings to reduce Fusarium infection in commercial plantations,\u201d says\u00a0Manoj Kaushal<\/a>, a CGIAR Systems Agronomist with IITA-Tanzania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study builds on an earlier one by the same team that was able to establish a correlation between the level of microbiome diversity with the resistance to pathogen invasions in banana roots published in\u00a0Plants<\/em>\u00a0(https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/plants9020263<\/a>) on 18 February 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IITA banana research program aims to improve soil health and increase the yields of the East African Highland bananas in a more sustainable way.\u00a0 The work is supported by the\u00a0Fonds CGIAR<\/a>\u00a0et, en particulier, le\u00a0Programme de recherche du GCRAI sur les racines, les tubercules et les bananes<\/a>\u00a0(CRP-RTB) and the EU under the MUSA2020 project grant agreement (GA) 727624.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The human body hosts trillions of microorganisms both inside and on the skin.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":15510,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"tags":[],"science-area":[],"program":[],"location":[27],"news-type":[],"hub":[62],"crop":[],"impact-areas":[],"item-year":[198],"class_list":["post-15509","news-item","type-news-item","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","location-tanzania","hub-eastern-africa","item-year-198"],"yoast_head":"\nUnlocking the diversity of microorganisms around banana roots - 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