Effects of nitrogen fertilization onto powdery mildew and damping-off disease infestation in winter wheat

A group from Department of Nutritional Crop Physiology, Institute of Crop Science, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany, etc. has reported about effects of nitrogen fertilization onto Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici (Bgt) and Gaeumannomyces graminis f. sp. tritici (Ggt) infestation.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9500508/

In this study, the role of nitrogen sources, including nitrate, ammonium, and cyanamide, on Bgt and Ggt infestation in winter wheat was investigated, to gain insights into the plant’s physical and biochemical mechanisms mediated by the interaction between nitrogen source and pathogen characterizing rhizo bacterial and fungal flora using next-generation sequencing.

Wheat inoculated with the foliar pathogen Bgt was comparatively up to 80% less infested when fertilized with nitrate or cyanamide than with ammonium.

Bacterial richness ranged from 720 to 969 ASVs and it did not differ among the four fertilization N treatments. Likewise, bacterial community structure was not affected by N application and N form. However, fungal richness ranged from 161 to 312 ASVs and it was higher in soil without any fertilization and in the ammonium treatment, while the soil amended with nitrate showed the lowest value in richness.