Bacteria in humans are recognized for the role they play in helping to fend off against disease, but new research shows that plants can benefit from this too.
Kwak et al., studied the soil-borne pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum causing bacterial wilt disease in tolerant and susceptible tomato varieties, Hawaii 7996 and Moneymaker respectively.
This study shows that disease-resistant tomatoes may recruit bacterial allies to protect themselves from soil-borne pathogens