This milestone marks a new scientific discovery by the European Soil O-Live project, which is coordinated by the University Institute of Research on Olive Grove and Olive Oils (INUO) at the University of Jaén. The discovery concerns the relationship between the genetics of the olive tree holobiont — the association between the plant and its microbial community, or microbiome — and its tolerance to the Verticillium dahliae fungus. This is the main conclusion of the article “Unveiling essential host genes and keystone microorganisms of the olive tree holobiont linked to Verticillium wilt tolerance”, which was published in the journal Microbiome by Antonio J. Fernández-González, Manuel Fernández-López and Jesús Mercado Blanco from the Department of Soil and Plant Microbiology at the CSIC Experimental Station, and Francisco Luque and Alicia Serrano from the Department of Experimental Biology at the University of Jaén, who are both affiliated with the INUO.
The article discusses how the microbial community living in an olive tree affects the plant’s characteristics, such as its resistance to environmental stress or disease. It therefore concludes that remodelling this microbiome could be a promising approach to managing olive crop disease. In order to achieve this, a comprehensive study of microbial interactions with their host plant and with each other is necessary. This is known as holobionts. The researchers have therefore sought to identify key host and microbial genes linked to Verticillium tolerance, in order to gain new insights into these relationships. To this end, the team compared the microbiomes of olive tree roots susceptible and resistant to the disease and found that certain bacterial and fungal species were more abundant in tolerant plants.
In addition, researchers have used a technique based on co-occurrence network analysis to identify correlations between certain microorganisms and the expression of specific genes, enabling them to reveal two key bacterial groups associated with tolerant olive trees and defence-related genes. These results demonstrate that combining analysis of microbiome composition and host gene expression can help unravel plant-microbiome interactions, pointing the way to new strategies that leverage microbiome engineering to improve olive tree resilience to Verticillium wilt. Furthermore, this approach could also help answer questions about how host genes shape the microbiome and how the microbiome influences disease resistance in host plants.
In conclusion, the research carried out in the Soil O-Live Project, part of the Soil Health and Food Mission of the Horizon Europe R&D&I programme, continues to generate advances in the quest to improve olive cultivation.
Artículo reference: Fernández-González, A.J., Serrano, A., Luque, F., Fernández‑López, M. and Mercado‑Blanco, J. (2025) Unveiling essential host genes and keystone microorganisms of the olive tree holobiont linked to Verticillium wilt tolerance. Microbiome 13, 239. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-025-02216-5
Article video: Access
Source: ‘Campus de Excelencia Internacional en Agroalimentación-CeiA3′ https://www.ceia3.es/es/noticias/ciencia/el-proyecto-soil-o-live-en-el-que-participa-un-investigador-del-ceia3-descubre-la-relacion-entre-la-genetica-del-olivo-y-su-microbioma/?idU=1&utm_source=newsletter_291&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=novedades-ceia3 (23/12/2025)
