Isolation and screening of phlD + plant growth promoting rhizobacteria antagonistic to Ralstonia solanacearum

Two Nematicidal Compounds from Lysinimonas M4 against the Pine Wood Nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus

A rich source of bioactive secondary metabolites from microorgannisms are widely used to control plant diseases in an eco-friendly way. To explore ideal candidates for prevention of pine wilt disease (PWD), a bacterial strain from rhizosphere of Pinus thunbergii, Lysinimonas M4, with nematicidal activity against pine wood nematode (PWN), Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, was isolated. Two nematicidal compounds were obtained from the culture of Lysinimonas M4 by silica gel chromatography based on bioactivity-guided fractionation and were subsequently identified as 2-coumaranone and cyclo-(Phe-Pro) by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectrometry (MS). The 2-coumaranone and cyclo-(Phe-Pro) showed significant nematicidal activity against PWN, with LC50 values at 24 h of 0.196 mM and 0.425 mM, respectively. Both compounds had significant inhibitory effects on egg hatching, feeding, and reproduction. The study on nematicidal mechanisms revealed that 2-coumaranone and cyclo-(Phe-Pro) caused the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in nematodes, along with a notable decrease in CAT and POS activity and an increase in SOD activity in nematodes, which might contribute to the death of pine wood nematodes. Bioassay tests demonstrated that the two compounds could reduce the incidence of wilting in Japanese black pine seedlings. This research offers a new bacterial strain and two metabolites for biocontrol against PWN.

Bacillus amyloliquefaciens Strain PMB05 Intensifies Plant Immune Responses to Confer Resistance Against Bacterial Wilt of Tomato

Tomato is an economic crop worldwide. Many limiting factors reduce the production of tomato, with bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum being the most destructive disease. Our previous study showed that the disease resistance to bacterial soft rot is enhanced by Bacillus amyloliquefaciens strain PMB05. This enhanced resistance is associated with the intensification of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMP)-triggered immunity (PTI). To determine whether the PTI-intensifying Bacillus spp. strains are able to confer disease resistance to bacterial wilt, their effects on PTI signals triggered by PAMP from R. solanacearum and on the occurrence of bacterial wilt were assayed. Before assay, a gene that encodes harpin from R. solanacearum, PopW, was applied as a PAMP. Results revealed that the B. amyloliquefaciens strain PMB05 was the one strain among 9 Bacillus rhizobacterial strains which could significantly intensify the PopW-induced hypersensitive response (HR) on Arabidopsis leaves. Moreover, we observed that the signals of PopW-induced reactive oxygen species generation and callose deposition were increased, confirming that the PTI was intensified by PMB05. The intensification of the PopW-triggered HR by PMB05 in Arabidopsis was reduced upon treatment with inhibitors in PTI pathways. Furthermore, the application of Bacillus spp. strains on tomato plants showed that only the use of PMB05 resulted in significantly increased resistance to bacterial wilt. Moreover, the PTI signals were also intensified in the tomato leaves. Taken together, we demonstrated that PMB05 is a PTI-intensifying bacterium that confers resistance to tomato bacterial wilt. Screening of plant immunity intensifying rhizobacteria is a possible strategy to control tomato bacterial wilt.[Formula: see text] Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.

L-Amino Acid Oxidases From Mushrooms Show Antibacterial Activity Against the Phytopathogen Ralstonia solanacearum

Ralstonia solanaceraum is the quarantine plant pathogenic bacterium that causes bacterial wilt in over 200 host plants, which include economically important crops such as potato, tomato, tobacco, banana, and ginger. Alternative biological methods of disease control that can be used in integrated pest management are extensively studied. In search of new proteins with antibacterial activity against R. solanacearum, we identified L-amino acid oxidases (LAOs) from fruiting bodies of Amanita phalloides (ApLAO) and Infundibulicybe geotropa (CgLAO). We describe an optimized isolation procedure for their biochemical characterization, and show that they are dimeric proteins with estimated monomer molecular masses of 72 and 66 kDa, respectively, with isoelectric point of pH 6.5. They have broad substrate specificities for hydrophobic and charged amino acids, with highest Km for L-Leu, and broad pH optima at pH 5 and pH 6, respectively. An enzyme with similar properties is also characterized from the mycelia of I. geotropa (CgmycLAO). Fractionated aqueous extracts of 15 species of mushrooms show that LAO activity against L-Leu correlates with antibacterial activity. We confirm that the LAO activities mediate the antibacterial actions of ApLAO, CgLAO, and CgmycLAO. Their antibacterial activities are greater against Gram-negative versus Gram-positive bacteria, with inhibition of growth rate, prolongation of lag-phase, and decreased endpoint biomass. In Gram-positive bacteria, they mainly prolong the lag phase. These in vitro antibacterial activities of CgLAO and CgmycLAO are confirmed in vivo in tomato plants, while ApLAO has no effect on disease progression in planta. Transmission electron microscopy shows morphological changes of R. solanacearum upon LAO treatments. Finally, broad specificity of the antibacterial activities of these purified LAOs were seen for in vitro screening against 14 phytopathogenic bacteria. Therefore, these fungal LAOs show great potential as new biological phytoprotective agents and show the fruiting bodies of higher fungi to be a valuable source of antimicrobials with unique features.

Biocontrol of Bacterial Wilt Disease Through Complex Interaction Between Tomato Plant, Antagonists, the Indigenous Rhizosphere Microbiota, and Ralstonia solanacearum

Ralstonia solanacearum (biovar2, race3) is the causal agent of bacterial wilt and this quarantine phytopathogen is responsible for massive losses in several commercially important crops. Biological control of this pathogen might become a suitable plant protection measure in areas where R. solanacearum is endemic. Two bacterial strains, Bacillus velezensis (B63) and Pseudomonas fluorescens (P142) with in vitro antagonistic activity toward R. solanacearum (B3B) were tested for rhizosphere competence, efficient biological control of wilt symptoms on greenhouse-grown tomato, and effects on the indigenous rhizosphere prokaryotic communities. The population densities of B3B and the antagonists were estimated in rhizosphere community DNA by selective plating, real-time quantitative PCR, and R. solanacearum-specific fliC PCR-Southern blot hybridization. Moreover, we investigated how the pathogen and/or the antagonists altered the composition of the tomato rhizosphere prokaryotic community by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. B. velezensis (B63) and P. fluorescens (P142)-inoculated plants showed drastically reduced wilt disease symptoms, accompanied by significantly lower abundance of the B3B population compared to the non-inoculated pathogen control. Pronounced shifts in prokaryotic community compositions were observed in response to the inoculation of B63 or P142 in the presence or absence of the pathogen B3B and numerous dynamic taxa were identified. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) visualization of the gfp-tagged antagonist P142 revealed heterogeneous colonization patterns and P142 was detected in lateral roots, root hairs, epidermal cells, and within xylem vessels. Although competitive niche exclusion cannot be excluded, it is more likely that the inoculation of P142 or B63 and the corresponding microbiome shifts primed the plant defense against the pathogen B3B. Both inoculants are promising biological agents for efficient control of R. solanacearum under field conditions.