Local plant leaf fungi act as weapons against invasive plants

doi:10.1093/jpe/rtag104

J Plant Ecol ›› Advance articles DOI:10.1093/jpe/rtag104

Local plant leaf fungi act as weapons against invasive plants

Zhao-Ying Zeng^1,2, Zi-Qing Liu¹, Ai-Ling Yang¹, Yu-Xuan Li¹, Yong-Lan Wang¹, Evan Siemann³, Bo Li^4*, Han-Bo Zhang^1*

1. State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650500, China;
2. Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650500, China;
3. Department of Biosciences, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA;
4. Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Transboundary Ecosecurity of Southwest China, Yunnan Key Laboratory of Plant Reproductive Adaptation, Evolutionary Ecology and Centre for Invasion Biology, Institute of Biodiversity, School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan University, Kunming 650504, China
^*Author for correspondence:
Bo Li, Email:bool@ynu.eu.cn
Han-Bo Zhang,Email:zhhb@ynu.edu.cn

Received:2026-01-30 Revised:2026-04-21 Accepted:2026-05-07 Published:2026-05-20
Supported by:
This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (grant numbers 2022YFC2601100), the Major Science and Technology Project in Yunnan Province, PR China (grant numbers 202301AS070023), the “Double First-Class” University Project of Yunnan University, the Basic Science and Technology Project for Youths in Yunnan Province, PR China (grant numbers 202501CI070317), and Kunming University of Science and Technology Natural Science Research Fund Project (241120250063).

本地植物叶真菌可作为武器抵御入侵植物

Abstract

Abstract: Native community resistance to plant invasion may be mediated by microbial effects on invader establishment. Here, we compared how the aboveground and belowground microbes, as well as the leaf functional traits of 25 native plant species, affect the germination and survival of the invader Ageratina adenophora. The results showed that leaf physical and chemical traits varied among species and shaped the aboveground microbial community. Local plants that were more phylogenetically closely related to A. adenophora harbored pathogen communities more similar to those found in A. adenophora. Inoculations using aboveground tissues had stronger adverse effects on A. adenophora establishment than soil inoculations, by delaying germination, reducing the germination rate, and decreasing seedling survival. Aboveground tissues from native plants that were more closely related to A. adenophora caused longer germination time and higher seedling mortality. Furthermore, it was the aboveground fungi, rather than bacteria, from local plants that negatively impacted seedling survival, with most of the detrimental fungal amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) being specialist pathogens. Several fungal strains isolated from dead seedlings following aboveground tissue inoculations—belonging to Alternaria, Fusarium, and Stagonosporopsis—were confirmed to kill over 60% of A. adenophora seedlings, demonstrating their high potential as biocontrol agents. This study provides evidence that phylogenetic relatedness and leaf traits (both functional and microbial) can influence local community resistance to invaders by regulating germination and seedling survival.

Key words: Phylogenetic relatedness, local plant aboveground microbe, plant invasion, biotic resistance hypothesis, Ageratina adenophora, leaf litter

摘要：
本地群落对植物入侵的阻抗可能受到微生物对入侵植物种群建立影响的调节。本研究比较了25种本地植物的地上与地下微生物，以及叶片功能性状，对入侵物种紫茎泽兰(Ageratina adenophora)种子萌发和幼苗存活的影响。结果显示，不同植物的叶片物理和化学性状存在差异，并影响其地上微生物群落。与紫茎泽兰亲缘关系更近的本地植物，其所携带的病原菌群落与紫茎泽兰中的病原菌群落更为相似。与土壤接种相比，地上组织接种对紫茎泽兰种群建立的抑制作用更强，表现为延迟萌发、降低萌发率和减少幼苗存活率。与紫茎泽兰亲缘关系更近的本地植物的地上组织，会导致紫茎泽兰萌发时间更长和幼苗死亡率更高。进一步研究发现，对幼苗存活产生负向影响的主要是本地植物的地上真菌而非细菌，其中大多数有害真菌扩增子序列变体(ASV)为专性病原菌。从经地上组织接种后死亡的幼苗中分离获得的几株真菌菌株(属于链格孢属Alternaria、镰刀菌属Fusarium和Stagonosporopsis)，被证实能够杀死超过60%的紫茎泽兰幼苗，显示出它们可作为生物防治制剂的巨大潜力。本研究提供的证据表明，亲缘关系和叶片性状(包括功能性状及微生物)可通过调控种子萌发与幼苗存活，来影响本地群落对入侵植物的阻抗。

Zhao-Ying Zeng, Zi-Qing Liu, Ai-Ling Yang, Yu-Xuan Li, Yong-Lan Wang, Evan Siemann, Bo Li, Han-Bo Zhang. Local plant leaf fungi act as weapons against invasive plants[J]. J Plant Ecol, DOI: 10.1093/jpe/rtag104.

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