Sour Orange Microbiome Is Affected by Infections of Plenodomus tracheiphilus Causal Agent of Citrus Mal Secco Disease

Mal secco is a severe vascular citrus disease (MSD) caused by the mitosporic fungus Plenodomus tracheiphilus (Pt). The pathogen enters through wounds on above- and below-ground parts of tree. susceptible species sour orange (Citrus aurantium) most commonly used rootstock for lemon trees in Italy. In this study, seedlings were wound-inoculated with P. leaves or roots. Six months post-inoculation, microbial communities rhizosphere, endorhizosphere, xylem endosphere samples from inoculated healthy plants analyzed 16S rRNA ITS (internal transcribed spacer) amplicon sequencing. DNA Pt was quantified real-time PCR three compartments. According to our results, endorhizosphere root-inoculated showed highest concentration DNA. Bacterial populations potentially beneficial taxa (e.g., Pseudomonas Burkholderia) depleted rhizosphere plants. Infection roots also produced network-wide rewiring associations Overall, findings revealed community-level changes induced infection root microbiome, providing further insights into multispecies interactions Citrus-associated communities.