Sustainable tomato protection and the power of the microbiome

Tomato is one of the world’s most widely cultivated and economically significant horticultural crop. However, the production faces major challenges due to biotic and abiotic stress factors that reduce both yield and quality. In his new thesis, titled “Microbiome and plant health: beneficial bacteria for the eco-sustainable protection of tomato from stresses”, Daniele Nicotra has researched environmentally friendly plant protection.

Reshaping and priming tomato defence

Daniele’s thesis explored microbiome-based solutions for sustainable agriculture, with a focus on tomato. By isolating and characterizing beneficial bacterial strains from the tomato core microbiome, he developed synthetic microbial communities that enhanced plant growth, reduced water stress, and provided effective biocontrol against key pathogens such as Fusarium and Xanthomonas. One of these synthetic microbial communities, MIX2, proved especially promising for reshaping the plant microbiome and priming defence responses.

Danieles findings suggest that plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria is a promising tool for enhancing tomato plant growth and health. A diverse mixture of bacterial strains may also combine multiple mechanisms of action, enhancing plant gene expression essential for withstanding stress conditions.

– I think the most exciting result of my research was the development and evaluation of a microbiome-driven "top-down" approach to guide the selection of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria strains from the core microbiome of tomato plants. This is quite innovative compared to the traditional "bottom-up" approaches, says Daniele Nicotra.

A close collaboration between two universities

Danieles’s research was supervised by Professor Vittoria Catara at the University of Catania and co-supervised by Ramesh Vetukuri at SLU Centre of Biological Control and the Department of Plant Breeding.

– This close collaboration between the two universities has really worked well. Daniele spent three months each summer at SLU in Alnarp and we are very impressed by Daniele’s work, says Ramesh Vetukuri.

– This hands-on partnership proved highly productive, leading to several publications and advancing joint biocontrol research, says Vittoria Catara.

Selecting beneficial microorganisms in a more targeted way

Th methodology in Daniele’s PhD project can be already employed to select beneficial microorganisms in a more targeted way, using the information gained from the study of the microbiome.

– Obviously, after the selection process, field trials need to be carried out to assess the actual potential of the selected strains, and optimal formulation of the products is needed for the commercial use on a broader scale, says Daniele.

So, what is the next step in Daniele’s career?

– I have already started a post doc at the University of Catania, in the Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment. There, I will continue my work on the study of beneficial bacteria for plants. I am also working with the goal of creating a startup company where I can employ the knowledge and expertise acquired during my PhD to contribute more practically to the agricultural sector in the bioinoculant market.