Endophytic biofungicide Bacillus subtilis (NBRI-W9) reshapes the metabolic homeostasis disrupted by the chemical fungicide, propiconazole in tomato plants to provide sustainable immunity against non-target bacterial pathogens

Chemical and microbial fungicides (Bio/fungicide) act differentially on plant systems. The present work assessed the metabolic profile of tomato plants vis-a-vis endophytic diversity after spraying of Propiconazole (PCZ) and endophytic biofungicide Bacillus subtilis (W9). Bio/fungicides were sprayed on tomato plants and evaluated for phenotypic, biochemical, and metabolic profiles after one week. In W9 treatment, a significant increase in relative abundance of several metabolites was observed including sugars, sugar alcohols, fatty-acids, organic-acids, and amino-acids. Polysaccharides and fatty acids showed a significant positive correlation with Rhizobiales, Burkholderiales, Bacillales, and Lactobacillales, respectively (p