Transplanting communities of microbiota from disease-resistant crops to vulnerable plants could help cotton growers combat a devastating infection that causes billions of dollars in losses every year.
Cotton Leaf Curl Disease has been decimating cotton crops around the world for decades, especially in Southeast Asia where growers have experienced crop losses of over a third thanks to the disease.
Pakistan, one of the world’s largest producers of high-quality cotton, has seen its textile industry pushed to the brink of collapse due to the disease.
Spread by whitefly and causing leaf curling, vein thickening and stunted growth, the disease has hit the country’s growers with annual losses of $2bn.
With traditional treatment methods such as chemical sprays and genetic modification having limited success, scientists have explored the potential of transplanting entire microbial communities — including bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other microbes — from disease-resistant cotton species to susceptible ones.
Researchers at the University of Glasgow and the Forman Christian College University, Pakistan, used advanced sequencing techniques to identify the microbial communities responsible for disease suppression.
They then transferred rhizospheric (root-associated) and phyllospheric (leaf-associated) microbiota from Gossypium arboreum—a naturally resistant cotton species not useful for good fabric production—to Gossypium hirsutum, which is highly susceptible to Cotton Leaf Curl Disease but highly valuable for fabric production.
The researchers found that transferring microbiota between plant species helps cotton plants tolerate viral infections. Early results suggest that rhizospheric, root-associated, microbiota transplantation significantly reduces disease incidence, outperforming traditional treatments such as applying salicylic acid.
In a paper published in Communications Biology, the study also showed the roots of disease-resistant cotton (G. arboreum) contain helpful bacteria which, when moved to disease-prone cotton (G. hirsutum), help plants grow faster.
Dr Kauser Abdulla Malik from Forman Christian College University, said that despite previous attempts to tackle the disease using RNAi and other advanced techniques, viral mutations had made those efforts unsuccessful.
“Now, by leveraging the power of beneficial microbes, we are developing a sustainable, biological solution to improve crop resilience. This research marks a shift from conventional disease management to harnessing nature’s own defence mechanisms,” he said.
While this research focused on Cotton Leaf Curl Disease, the research team said the findings hold “immense potential” for sustainable crop production worldwide.
By reducing dependency on chemical pesticides and fostering natural plant defences, microbiota transplantation could become a game-changer in managing plant diseases globally, they added.
