Differential contributions of an antimicrobial effector from Verticillium dahliae to virulence and tomato microbiota assembly across natural soils
Our findings demonstrate that the impact of the antimicrobial effector Ave1 on microbiota composition and pathogen virulence is context-dependent, influenced by the specific soil-derived microbial community that assembles on the host. This work highlights the ecological complexity of effector functions and suggests that pathogen success in natural environments depends on dynamic interactions with both the plant host and its microbiota. Video Abstract.
Authors
- Natalie Schmitz
- Wilko Punt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4047-1117)
- Michael Bonkowski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2656-1183)
- Anton Kraege (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4741-5671)
- Jinyi C. Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7810-5393)
- Bart P. H. J. Thomma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4125-4181)
- Nick C. Snelders (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2576-1928)
- Sabine Metzger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9722-8495)
- Stéphane Hacquard
Institutions
- University of Cologne (DE)
- Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (DE)
- Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Microbiome
- Published
- 2026-03-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-026-02376-y
- Primary Topic
- Plant-Microbe Interactions and Immunity
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00