ABSTRACT Wheat powdery mildew, caused by Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici (Bgt), presents a severe threat to global wheat production, necessitating sustainable control strategies. This study addresses this challenge by developing an innovative biocontrol approach that combines the endophytic fungus Serendipita indica (Si) with sodium nitroprusside (SNP, NO donor) treatment, which synergistically enhances wheat resistance through integrated physiological and molecular mechanisms. The combined treatment reduced disease severity by 27.9% while increasing biomass by 20%, improved key physiological parameters including a 16% higher leaf chlorophyll content, 5% increased root water retention and approximately 20% reduction in oxidative damage markers (malondialdehyde and electrolyte leakage), by comparing the Si + SNP + Bgt to Bgt treatment at 14 days post‐inoculation. Additionally, the synergistic effect of NO and Si activated coordinated defence responses as evidenced by multi‐omics analysis: transcriptomics showed a higher expression of MAPK genes and transcriptome reprogramming involving 3240 differentially expressed genes compared to 658 with Si alone and 1750 with SNP alone; and metabolomics revealed 1080 differentially accumulated metabolites in the combined treatment compared to 458 with Si alone and 350 with SNP alone, along with synergistic upregulation of phenylpropanoid and flavonoid pathways (approximately a 4‐fold increase) and enhanced phytohormone signalling (a 39% increase in salicylic acid, 88% increase in indole‐3‐acetic acid and 3‐fold increase in gibberellic acid). Overall, this research establishes a novel, eco‐friendly method of crop protection by leveraging microbial–plant signalling crosstalk, offering a potential field‐applicable solution to reduce fungicide dependence while serving as a template for next‐generation integrated pest management systems.
Li et al. (Sun,) studied this question.