Abstract
Host-associated microbiomes are increasingly recognized as key determinants of plant health, disease development, and ecosystem functioning. Plant pathogens, especially fungal pathogens, have been reported to secrete antimicrobial effectors to modulate the host microbiota and promote colonization. Plant-parasitic nematodes (PPNs) could also modulate host microbial communities, but the processes involved remain to be clarified. Here, we identify a secreted antifungal effector, BxylTLP6, from Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, the causal agent of pine wilt disease. BxylTLP6 degrades fungal cell walls and inhibits multiple plant-associated fungi, while the released oligoglucans serve as food-derived cues that guide nematode foraging toward fungal resources. In planta, silencing Bxyltlp6 significantly delayed disease progression. ITS-based mycobiome profiling revealed that BxylTLP6 modulates the pine endophytic fungal community by promoting Ascomycota, suppressing Basidiomycota, inhibiting wood-decaying fungi, and enriching pathogenic or parasitic taxa. These shifts are associated with enhanced nematode survival and pathogenicity. Our findings support the view that a TLP effector can modulate behavior and influence the host fungal microbiome, shedding light on how PPN may manipulate microbial environments to enhance their fitness.
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Data availability
All data generated in this study have been deposited in Figshare and are available under the DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.30745067.
Code availability
No custom code was used to generate or analyze the data in this study.
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Acknowledgements
The study was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds of Research Institute of Forest New Technology, CAF (CAFYBB2020SZ008), STI 2030–Major Projects (2022ZD04016) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC 32371897).
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D.L., Y.L. and X.Z. conceived and supervised the project. D.L. performed all experiments and all statistical analyses. X.W. and Y.F. contributed to the identification of the tlp gene family. Y.Liu and C.Y. performed nematode behavioral assays. W.Z. conducted RNA interference experiments. X.Wen carried out greenhouse experiments and sample collection. Z.L. and W.Y. performed fungal microbiome analysis.
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Li, DZ., Li, Y., Wang, X. et al. An antifungal effector from a plant-parasitic nematode modulates host fungal community composition and supports ecological fitness. npj Biofilms Microbiomes (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41522-026-00954-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41522-026-00954-4
