Cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) offers many industrial, agricultural, and medicinal applications, but is commonly threatened by the gray mold disease caused by the fungus Botrytis cinerea. With few effective control measures currently available, the use of beneficial rhizobacteria represents a promising biocontrol avenue for cannabis. To counter disease development, plants rely on a complex network of inducible defense pathways, allowing them to respond locally and systemically to pathogens attacks. In this study, we present the first attempt to control gray mold in cannabis using beneficial rhizobacteria, and the first investigation of cannabis defense responses at the molecular level. Four promising Pseudomonas (LBUM223 and WCS417r) and Bacillus strains (LBUM279 and LBUM979) were applied as single or combined root treatments to cannabis seedlings, which were subsequently infected by B. cinerea. Symptoms were recorded and the expression of eight putative defense genes was monitored in leaves by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The rhizobacteria did not significantly control gray mold and all infected leaves were necrotic after a week, regardless of the treatment. Similarly, no systemic activation of putative cannabis defense genes was reported, neither triggered by the pathogen nor by the rhizobacteria. However, this work identified five putative defense genes (ERF1, HEL, PAL, PR1, and PR2) that were strongly and sustainably induced locally at B. cinerea’s infection sites, as well as two stably expressed reference genes (TIP41 and APT1) in cannabis. These markers will be useful in future researches exploring cannabis defense pathways.

大麻（大麻 L.）提供许多工业，农业和医学应用，但通常受到由真菌引起的灰霉病的威胁 灰葡萄孢。由于目前缺乏有效的控制措施，有益根瘤菌的使用代表了大麻的有前途的生物防治途径。为了应对疾病的发展，植物依赖于复杂的诱导防御途径网络，从而使它们能够对病原体的侵袭进行局部和系统的响应。在这项研究中，我们提出了使用有益根瘤菌控制大麻中灰霉病的首次尝试，并且是在分子水平上对大麻防御反应的首次调查。四大有前途假单胞菌 （LBUM223和WCS417r）和 芽孢杆菌 菌株（LBUM279和LBUM979）以单根或联合根处理的形式应用于大麻幼苗，随后被 灰葡萄孢。通过逆转录定量聚合酶链反应，记录症状并监测叶片中八个假定防御基因的表达。根瘤菌不能显着控制灰霉病，一周后所有被感染的叶片都坏死，而与处理无关。同样，也没有报道过既定的大麻防御基因的全身激活，既不是由病原体引起的，也不是由根际细菌引起的。但是，这项工作确定了五个推定的防御基因（ERF1， 海尔， 朋友， PR1和 PR2）在当地强烈而可持续地诱发 灰葡萄孢的感染部位，以及两个稳定表达的参考基因（提示41 和 APT1）在大麻中。这些标记物将在探索大麻防御途径的未来研究中有用。