Fig. 2: Infection of wheat with Z. tritici changes resistance to bacterial pathogens in local and systemic leaf tissues.

a Local coinfection (schematic) of wheat cultivar Obelisk (orange/brown) and cultivar Chinese Spring (green) with Z. tritici (Zt) IPO323 (red) on second leaf followed by P. syringae pv. oryzae (Por) (blue) on the same area of the leaf at 4 dpi-f and quantification of bacterial growth after an additional 4 days. b, c Adjacent coinfection (schematic) with Zt or heat-killed (hk) Zt locally (red) followed by Por (b) or P. syringae pv. tomato (Pst) (c) (blue) on an adjacent leaf area at 4 dpi-f and quantification of bacterial growth after an additional 4 days. d Systemic coinfection (schematic) of wheat cultivar Obelisk (orange/brown) and cultivar Chinese Spring (green) with Zt IPO323 (red) on the second leaf followed by P. syringae pv. oryzae (Por) (blue) at 4 dpi-f and quantification of bacterial growth after an additional 4 days. Bacterial coinfection took place on the third leaf. Statistical analysis was performed using the Shapiro–Wilk test of normality, which was then followed by the Wilcoxon rank-sum test for test of null hypothesis. *P < .05; **P < .01; ***P < .001; ns not significant. Number of biologically independent replicates: a Obelisk (n = 12), Chinese Spring (n = 17). b, c all treatments, n = 9. d Obelisk (n = 24), Chinese Spring mock (n = 20), Chinese Spring Zt (n = 24). Experiments were carried out independently at least three times (a–c)/twice (d) with similar results.