Enhanced production of indole-3-acetic acid by a genetically modified strain of Pseudomonas fluorescens CHA0 affects root growth of cucumber, but does not improve protection of the plant against Pythium root rot

Changes in structure and assembly of a species-rich soil natural community with contrasting nutrient availability upon establishment of a plant-beneficial Pseudomonas in the wheat rhizosphere

BACKGROUND

Plant-beneficial bacterial inoculants are of great interest in agriculture as they have the potential to promote plant growth and health. However, the inoculation of the rhizosphere microbiome often results in a suboptimal or transient colonization, which is due to a variety of factors that influence the fate of the inoculant. To better understand the fate of plant-beneficial inoculants in complex rhizosphere microbiomes, composed by hundreds of genotypes and multifactorial selection mechanisms, controlled studies with high-complexity soil microbiomes are needed.

RESULTS

We analysed early compositional changes in a taxa-rich natural soil bacterial community under both exponential nutrient-rich and stationary nutrient-limited growth conditions (i.e. growing and stable communities, respectively) following inoculation with the plant-beneficial bacterium Pseudomonas protegens in a bulk soil or a wheat rhizosphere environment. P. protegens successfully established under all conditions tested and was more abundant in the rhizosphere of the stable community. Nutrient availability was a major factor driving microbiome composition and structure as well as the underlying assembly processes. While access to nutrients resulted in communities assembled mainly by homogeneous selection, stochastic processes dominated under the nutrient-deprived conditions. We also observed an increased rhizosphere selection effect under nutrient-limited conditions, resulting in a higher number of amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) whose relative abundance was enriched. The inoculation with P. protegens produced discrete changes, some of which involved other Pseudomonas. Direct competition between Pseudomonas strains partially failed to replicate the observed differences in the microbiome and pointed to a more complex interaction network.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study show that nutrient availability is a major driving force of microbiome composition, structure and diversity in both the bulk soil and the wheat rhizosphere and determines the assembly processes that govern early microbiome development. The successful establishment of the inoculant was facilitated by the wheat rhizosphere and produced discrete changes among other members of the microbiome. Direct competition between Pseudomonas strains only partially explained the microbiome changes, indicating that indirect interactions or spatial distribution in the rhizosphere or soil interface may be crucial for the survival of certain bacteria. Video Abstract.

Microbiome Engineering: Synthetic Biology of Plant-Associated Microbiomes in Sustainable Agriculture

To support an ever-increasing population, modern agriculture faces numerous challenges that pose major threats to global food and energy security. Plant-associated microbes, with their many plant growth-promoting (PGP) traits, have enormous potential in helping to solve these challenges. However, the results of their use in agriculture have been variable, probably because of poor colonization. Phytomicrobiome engineering is an emerging field of synthetic biology that may offer ways to alleviate this limitation. This review highlights recent advances in both bottom-up and top-down approaches to engineering non-model bacteria and microbiomes to promote beneficial plant-microbe interactions, as well as advances in strategies to evaluate these interactions. Biosafety, biosecurity, and biocontainment strategies to address the environmental concerns associated with field use of synthetic microbes are also discussed.

Applications of Fungal Strains with Keratin-Degrading and Plant Growth Promoting Characteristics

Protein hydrolysates (PHs) are organic non-microbial biostimulants having beneficial effects on plants. The study was designed to assess the effects on plants by the applications of PHs obtained from Trichoderma isolates grown on keratin wastes. Trichoderma isolates were characterized for indole-3-acetic acid and siderophores production, activity of lytic enzymes, phosphorous solubilization and inhibition of pathogens growth, using qualitative specific tests. Fungal isolates were cultured on a medium with keratin wastes (wool and feathers) to obtain PHs. Fungal PHs were tested in vivo for plant biostimulant action, as follows: (i) seeds germination test; (ii) activation of plant proton pump; (iii) evaluation of effect on tomato seedling growth. PHs from T. asperellum cultured on feathers medium reached the highest values for all parameters recorded (plant height and diameter, number of leaves and branches), with the exception of those for plant biomass, which were maximum for the wool medium. The metabolites released by keratin degradation under the activity of selected T. asperellum isolate improved crop health and productivity. The use of PHs can be a reasonable solution for the environmental pollution of by-products from the food chain, as well as for the replacement of chemical fertilizers with microbial formulations to stimulate plant growth.

Analysis and cloning of the synthetic pathway of the phytohormone indole-3-acetic acid in the plant-beneficial Bacillus amyloliquefaciens SQR9

Background

The plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) strain Bacillus amyloliquefaciens SQR9, isolated from the cucumber rhizosphere, protects the host plant from pathogen invasion and promotes plant growth through efficient root colonization. The phytohormone indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) has been suggested to contribute to the plant-growth-promoting effect of Bacillus strains. The possible IAA synthetic pathways in B. amyloliquefaciens SQR9 were investigated in this study, using a combination of chemical and genetic analysis.

Results

Gene candidates involved in tryptophan-dependent IAA synthesis were identified through tryptophan response transcriptional analysis, and inactivation of genes ysnE, dhaS, yclC, and yhcX in SQR9 led to 86, 77, 55, and 24 % reductions of the IAA production, respectively. The genes patB (encoding a conserved hypothetical protein predicted to be an aminotransferase), yclC (encoding a UbiD family decarboxylase), and dhaS (encoding indole 3-acetaldehyde dehydrogenase), which were proposed to constitute the indole-3-pyruvic acid (IPyA) pathway for IAA biosynthesis, were separately expressed in SQR9 or co-expressed as an entire IAA synthesis pathway cluster in SQR9 and B. subtilis 168, all these recombinants showed increased IAA production. These results suggested that gene products of dhaS, patB, yclB, yclC, yhcX and ysnE were involved in IAA biosynthesis. Genes patB, yclC and dhaS constitute a potential complete IPyA pathway of IAA biosynthesis in SQR9.

Conclusions

In conclusion, biosynthesis of IAA in B. amyloliquefaciens SQR9 occurs through multiple pathways.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12934-015-0323-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Mechanism of phosphate solubilization and antifungal activity of Streptomyces spp. isolated from wheat roots and rhizosphere and their application in improving plant growth

The application of plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) at field scale has been hindered by an inadequate understanding of the mechanisms that enhance plant growth, rhizosphere incompetence and the inability of bacterial strains to thrive in different soil types and environmental conditions. Actinobacteria with their sporulation, nutrient cycling, root colonization, bio-control and other plant-growth-promoting activities could be potential field bio-inoculants. We report the isolation of five rhizospheric and two root endophytic actinobacteria from Triticum aestivum (wheat) plants. The cultures exhibited plant-growth-promoting activities, namely phosphate solubilization (1916 mg l−1), phytase (0.68 U ml−1), chitinase (6.2 U ml−1), indole-3-acetic acid (136.5 mg l−1) and siderophore (47.4 mg l−1) production, as well as utilizing all the rhizospheric sugars under test. Malate (50–55 mmol l−1) was estimated in the culture supernatant of the highest phosphate solublizer, Streptomyces mhcr0816. The mechanism of malate overproduction was studied by gene expression and assays of key glyoxalate cycle enzymes – isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH), isocitrate lyase (ICL) and malate synthase (MS). The significant increase in gene expression (ICL fourfold, MS sixfold) and enzyme activity (ICL fourfold, MS tenfold) of ICL and MS during stationary phase resulted in malate production as indicated by lowered pH (2.9) and HPLC analysis (retention time 13.1 min). Similarly, the secondary metabolites for chitinase-independent biocontrol activity of Streptomyces mhcr0817, as identified by GC-MS and 1H-NMR spectra, were isoforms of pyrrole derivatives. The inoculation of actinobacterial isolate mhce0811 in T. aestivum (wheat) significantly improved plant growth, biomass (33 %) and mineral (Fe, Mn, P) content in non-axenic conditions. Thus the actinobacterial isolates reported here were efficient PGPR possessing significant antifungal activity and may have potential field applications.

Indole-3-acetic acid in plant-microbe interactions

Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) is an important phytohormone with the capacity to control plant development in both beneficial and deleterious ways. The ability to synthesize IAA is an attribute that many bacteria including both plant growth-promoters and phytopathogens possess. There are three main pathways through which IAA is synthesized; the indole-3-pyruvic acid, indole-3-acetamide and indole-3-acetonitrile pathways. This chapter reviews the factors that effect the production of this phytohormone, the role of IAA in bacterial physiology and in plant-microbe interactions including phytostimulation and phytopathogenesis.

Engineering Pseudomonas protegens Pf-5 for nitrogen fixation and its application to improve plant growth under nitrogen-deficient conditions

Nitrogen is the second most critical factor for crop production after water. In this study, the beneficial rhizobacterium Pseudomonas protegens Pf-5 was genetically modified to fix nitrogen using the genes encoding the nitrogenase of Pseudomonas stutzeri A1501 via the X940 cosmid. Pf-5 X940 was able to grow in L medium without nitrogen, displayed high nitrogenase activity and released significant quantities of ammonium to the medium. Pf-5 X940 also showed constitutive expression and enzymatic activity of nitrogenase in ammonium medium or in nitrogen-free medium, suggesting a constitutive nitrogen fixation. Similar to Pseudomonas protegens Pf-5, Pseudomonas putida, Pseudomonas veronii and Pseudomonas taetrolens but not Pseudomonas balearica and Pseudomonas stutzeri transformed with cosmid X940 showed constitutive nitrogenase activity and high ammonium production, suggesting that this phenotype depends on the genome context and that this technology to obtain nitrogen-fixing bacteria is not restricted to Pf-5. Interestingly, inoculation of Arabidopsis, alfalfa, tall fescue and maize with Pf-5 X940 increased the ammonium concentration in soil and plant productivity under nitrogen-deficient conditions. In conclusion, these results open the way to the production of effective recombinant inoculants for nitrogen fixation on a wide range of crops.

Production of indole-3-acetic acid via the indole-3-acetamide pathway in the plant-beneficial bacterium Pseudomonas chlororaphis O6 is inhibited by ZnO nanoparticles but enhanced by CuO nanoparticles

The beneficial bacterium Pseudomonas chlororaphis O6 produces indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), a plant growth regulator. However, the pathway involved in IAA production in this bacterium has not been reported. In this paper we describe the involvement of the indole-3-acetamide (IAM) pathway in IAA production in P. chlororaphis O6 and the effects of CuO and ZnO nanoparticles (NPs). Sublethal levels of CuO and ZnO NPs differentially affected the levels of IAA secreted in medium containing tryptophan as the precursor. After 15 h of growth, CuO NP-exposed cells had metabolized more tryptophan than the control and ZnO NP-challenged cells. The CuO NP-treated cells produced higher IAA levels than control cultures lacking NPs. In contrast, ZnO NPs inhibited IAA production. Mixing of CuO and ZnO NPs resulted in an intermediate level of IAA production relative to the levels in the separate CuO and ZnO NP treatments. The effect of CuO NPs on IAA levels could be duplicated by ions at the concentrations released from the NPs. However, ion release did not account for the inhibition caused by the ZnO NPs. The mechanism underlying changes in IAA levels cannot be accounted for by effects on transcript accumulation from genes encoding a tryptophan permease or the IAM hydrolase in 15-h cultures. These findings raise the issue of whether sublethal doses of NPs would modify the beneficial effects of association between plants and bacteria.

Effects of Azospirillum brasilense with genetically modified auxin biosynthesis gene ipdC upon the diversity of the indigenous microbiota of the wheat rhizosphere

The phytostimulatory properties of Azospirillum inoculants, which entail production of the phytohormone indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), can be enhanced by genetic means. However, it is not known whether this could affect their interactions with indigenous soil microbes. Here, wheat seeds were inoculated with the wild-type strain Azospirillum brasilense Sp245 or one of three genetically modified (GM) derivatives and grown for one month. The GM derivatives contained a plasmid vector harboring the indole-3-pyruvate/phenylpyruvate decarboxylase gene ipdC (IAA production) controlled either by the constitutive promoter PnptII or the root exudate-responsive promoter PsbpA, or by an empty vector (GM control). All inoculants displayed equal rhizosphere population densities. Only inoculation with either ipdC construct increased shoot biomass compared with the non-inoculated control. At one month after inoculation, automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (ARISA) revealed that the effect of the PsbpA construct on bacterial community structure differed from that of the GM control, which was confirmed by 16S rDNA-based denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). The fungal community was sensitive to inoculation with the PsbpA construct and especially the GM control, based on ARISA data. Overall, fungal and bacterial communities displayed distinct responses to inoculation of GM A. brasilense phytostimulators, whose effects could differ from those of the wild-type.

Bacterial endophytes contribute to abiotic stress adaptation in pepper plants (Capsicum annuumL.)

Endophytes are nonpathogenic plant-associated bacteria that can play an important role in plant vitality and may confer resistance to abiotic or biotic stress. The effects of 5 endophytic bacterial strains isolated from pepper plants showing 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase activity were studied in sweet pepper under in vitro conditions. Four of the strains tested showed production of indole acetic acid. Plant growth, osmotic potential, free proline content, and gene expression were monitored in leaves and roots under control and mild osmotic stress conditions. All indole acetate producers promoted growth in Capsicum annuum L. ‘Ziegenhorn Bello’, from which they were isolated. Osmotic stress caused an increase in the content of free proline in the leaves of both inoculated and noninoculated plants. Inoculated control plants also revealed higher proline levels in comparison with noninoculated control plants. Differential gene expression patterns of CaACCO, CaLTPI, CaSAR82A, and putative P5CR and P5CS genes during moderate stress were observed, depending on the bacterium applied. Inoculation with 2 bacterial strains, EZB4 and EZB8 ( Arthrobacter sp. and Bacillus sp., respectively), resulted in a significantly reduced upregulation or even downregulation of the stress-inducible genes CaACCO and CaLTPI, as compared with the gene expression in noninoculated plants. This indicates that both strains reduced abiotic stress in pepper under the conditions tested.

An ipdC gene knock-out of Azospirillum brasilense strain SM and its implications on indole-3-acetic acid biosynthesis and plant growth promotion

The indole-3-pyruvate decarboxylase gene (ipdC), coding for a key enzyme of the indole-3-pyruvic acid pathway of IAA biosynthesis in Azospirillum brasilense SM was functionally disrupted in a site-specific manner. This disruption was brought about by group II intron-based Targetron gene knock-out system as other conventional methods were unsuccessful in generating an IAA-attenuated mutant. Intron insertion was targeted to position 568 on the sense strand of ipdC, resulting in the knock-out strain, SMIT568s10 which showed a significant (~50%) decrease in the levels of indole-3-acetic acid, indole-3-acetaldehyde and tryptophol compared to the wild type strain SM. In addition, a significant decrease in indole-3-pyruvate decarboxylase enzyme activity by approximately 50% was identified confirming a functional knock-out. Consequently, a reduction in the plant growth promoting response of strain SMIT568s10 was observed in terms of root length and lateral root proliferation as well as the total dry weight of the treated plants. Residual indole-3-pyruvate decarboxylase enzyme activity, and indole-3-acetic acid, tryptophol and indole-3-acetaldehyde formed along with the plant growth promoting response by strain SMIT568s10 in comparison with an untreated set suggest the presence of more than one copy of ipdC in the A. brasilense SM genome.

Indole-3-acetic acid in microbial and microorganism-plant signaling

Diverse bacterial species possess the ability to produce the auxin phytohormone indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Different biosynthesis pathways have been identified and redundancy for IAA biosynthesis is widespread among plant-associated bacteria. Interactions between IAA-producing bacteria and plants lead to diverse outcomes on the plant side, varying from pathogenesis to phyto-stimulation. Reviewing the role of bacterial IAA in different microorganism-plant interactions highlights the fact that bacteria use this phytohormone to interact with plants as part of their colonization strategy, including phyto-stimulation and circumvention of basal plant defense mechanisms. Moreover, several recent reports indicate that IAA can also be a signaling molecule in bacteria and therefore can have a direct effect on bacterial physiology. This review discusses past and recent data, and emerging views on IAA, a well-known phytohormone, as a microbial metabolic and signaling molecule.

Targeted engineering of Azospirillum brasilense SM with indole acetamide pathway for indoleacetic acid over-expression

Rhizospheric bacterial strains are known to produce indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) through different pathways, and such IAA may be beneficial to plants at low concentrations. IAA biosynthesis by a natural isolate of Azospirillum brasilense SM was studied and observed to be tryptophan-inducible and -dependent in nature. While our work demonstrated the operation of the indole pyruvic acid pathway, the biochemical and molecular evidence for the genes of the indole acetamide (IAM) pathway were lacking in A. brasilense SM. This led us to use the IAM pathway genes as targets for metabolic engineering, with the aim of providing an additional pathway of IAA biosynthesis and improving IAA levels in A. brasilense SM. The introduction of the heterologous IAM pathway, consisting of the iaaM and iaaH genes, not only increased the IAA levels by threefold but also allowed constitutive expression of the same genes along with efficient utilization of IAM as a substrate. Such an engineered strain showed a superior effect on the lateral branching of sorghum roots as well as the dry weight of the plants when compared with the wild-type strain. Such an improved bioinoculant could be demonstrated to enhance root proliferation and biomass productivity of treated plants compared with the parental strain.

Molecular-based strategies to exploit Pseudomonas biocontrol strains for environmental biotechnology applications

Exploitation of beneficial plant-microbe interactions in the rhizosphere can result in the promotion of plant health and have significant implications for low input sustainable agriculture applications such as biocontrol. Bacteria such as Bacillus and Pseudomonas, and fungi such as Trichoderma, have been developed as commercial biocontrol products. Registration of microbial inocualants as biocontrol agents in either the European Union or the United States requires production of extensive dossiers covering efficacy, safety and risk assessment. Despite the fact that a number of Pseudomonas biocontrol products have been marketed there are still some limitations hampering the development of this technology for widespread use in agriculture. Although many strains show good performance in specific trials, this is often not translated into consistent, effective biocontrol in diverse field situations. Advances in 'Omics' technology and the publication of complete genome sequences of a number of plant-associative bacterial strains, has facilitated investigations into the molecular basis underpinning the establishment of beneficial plant-microbe interactions in the rhizosphere. The understanding of these molecular signalling processes and the functions they regulate is fundamental to promoting beneficial microbe-plant interactions, to overcome existing limitations and to designing improved strategies for the development of novel Pseudmonas biocontrol inoculant consortia.

Influence of growth conditions on Pseudomonas fluorescens strains: a link between metabolite production and the PLFA profile

Phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA) are essential constituents of cell membranes. PLFA fingerprints can be used to monitor the impact of growth conditions on bacteria because the fatty acid composition is closely linked to the growth environment. Through statistical analyses, clusters can be shown connecting the PLFA of Pseudomonas fluorescens with the growth condition. The metabolite production/excretion by bacteria is shown to be related to such clusters. This suggests that modification of the cell membrane, due to the variations in the fatty acid composition, is linked to the presence of metabolites in the bacterial culture media.

Deleterious impact of a virulent bacteriophage on survival and biocontrol activity of Pseudomonas fluorescens strain CHAO in natural soil

Many biotic and abiotic factors affect the persistence and activity of beneficial pseudomonads introduced into soil to suppress plant diseases. One such factor may be the presence of virulent bacteriophages that decimate the population of the introduced bacteria, thereby reducing their beneficial effect. We have isolated a lytic bacteriophage (phi)GP100) that specifically infects the biocontrol bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens CHA0 and some closely related Pseudomonas strains. phiGP100 was found to be a double-stranded-DNA phage with an icosahedral head, a stubby tail, and a genome size of approximately 50 kb. Replication of phiGP100 was negatively affected at temperatures higher than 25 degrees C. phiGP100 had a negative impact on the population size and the biocontrol activity of P. fluorescens strain CHA0-Rif (a rifampicin-resistant variant of CHA0) in natural soil microcosms. In the presence of phiGP100, the population size of strain CHA0-Rif in soil and on cucumber roots was reduced more than 100-fold. As a consequence, the bacterium's capacity to protect cucumber against a root disease caused by the pathogenic oomycete Pythium ultimum was entirely abolished. In contrast, the phage affected neither root colonization and nor the disease suppressive effect of a phiDGP100-resistant variant of strain CHA0-Rif. To our knowledge, this study is the first to illustrate the potential of phages to impair biocontrol performance of beneficial bacteria released into the natural soil environment.

Microbial interactions and biocontrol in the rhizosphere

The loss of organic material from the roots provides the energy for the development of active microbial populations in the rhizosphere around the root. Generally, saproptrophs or biotrophs such as mycorrhizal fungi grow in the rhizosphere in response to this carbon loss, but plant pathogens may also develop and infect a susceptible host, resulting in disease. This review examines the microbial interactions that can take place in the rhizosphere and that are involved in biological disease control. The interactions of bacteria used as biocontrol agents of bacterial and fungal plant pathogens, and fungi used as biocontrol agents of protozoan, bacterial and fungal plant pathogens are considered. Whenever possible, modes of action involved in each type of interaction are assessed with particular emphasis on antibiosis, competition, parasitism, and induced resistance. The significance of plant growth promotion and rhizosphere competence in biocontrol is also considered. Multiple microbial interactions involving bacteria and fungi in the rhizosphere are shown to provide enhanced biocontrol in many cases in comparison with biocontrol agents used singly. The extreme complexity of interactions that can occur in the rhizosphere is highlighted and some potential areas for future research in this area are discussed briefly.

Microbial interactions and biocontrol in the rhizosphere

The loss of organic material from the roots provides the energy for the development of active microbial populations in the rhizosphere around the root. Generally, saproptrophs or biotrophs such as mycorrhizal fungi grow in the rhizosphere in response to this carbon loss, but plant pathogens may also develop and infect a susceptible host, resulting in disease. This review examines the microbial interactions that can take place in the rhizosphere and that are involved in biological disease control. The interactions of bacteria used as biocontrol agents of bacterial and fungal plant pathogens, and fungi used as biocontrol agents of protozoan, bacterial and fungal plant pathogens are considered. Whenever possible, modes of action involved in each type of interaction are assessed with particular emphasis on antibiosis, competition, parasitism, and induced resistance. The significance of plant growth promotion and rhizosphere competence in biocontrol is also considered. Multiple microbial interactions involving bacteria and fungi in the rhizosphere are shown to provide enhanced biocontrol in many cases in comparison with biocontrol agents used singly. The extreme complexity of interactions that can occur in the rhizosphere is highlighted and some potential areas for future research in this area are discussed briefly.

Autoinduction of 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol biosynthesis in the biocontrol agent Pseudomonas fluorescens CHA0 and repression by the bacterial metabolites salicylate and pyoluteorin

The antimicrobial metabolite 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol (2,4-DAPG) contributes to the capacity of Pseudomonas fluorescens strain CHA0 to control plant diseases caused by soilborne pathogens. A 2, 4-DAPG-negative Tn5 insertion mutant of strain CHA0 was isolated, and the nucleotide sequence of the 4-kb genomic DNA region adjacent to the Tn5 insertion site was determined. Four open reading frames were identified, two of which were homologous to phlA, the first gene of the 2,4-DAPG biosynthetic operon, and to the phlF gene encoding a pathway-specific transcriptional repressor. The Tn5 insertion was located in an open reading frame, tentatively named phlH, which is not related to known phl genes. In wild-type CHA0, 2, 4-DAPG production paralleled expression of a phlA'-'lacZ translational fusion, reaching a maximum in the late exponential growth phase. Thereafter, the compound appeared to be degraded to monoacetylphloroglucinol by the bacterium. 2,4-DAPG was identified as the active compound in extracts from culture supernatants of strain CHA0 specifically inducing phlA'-'lacZ expression about sixfold during exponential growth. Induction by exogenous 2,4-DAPG was most conspicuous in a phlA mutant, which was unable to produce 2, 4-DAPG. In a phlF mutant, 2,4-DAPG production was enhanced severalfold and phlA'-'lacZ was expressed at a level corresponding to that in the wild type with 2,4-DAPG added. The phlF mutant was insensitive to 2,4-DAPG addition. A transcriptional phlA-lacZ fusion was used to demonstrate that the repressor PhlF acts at the level of transcription. Expression of phlA'-'lacZ and 2,4-DAPG synthesis in strain CHA0 was strongly repressed by the bacterial extracellular metabolites salicylate and pyoluteorin as well as by fusaric acid, a toxin produced by the pythopathogenic fungus Fusarium. In the phlF mutant, these compounds did not affect phlA'-'lacZ expression and 2, 4-DAPG production. PhlF-mediated induction by 2,4-DAPG and repression by salicylate of phlA'-'lacZ expression was confirmed by using Escherichia coli as a heterologous host. In conclusion, our results show that autoinduction of 2,4-DAPG biosynthesis can be countered by certain bacterial (and fungal) metabolites. This mechanism, which depends on phlF function, may help P. fluorescens to produce homeostatically balanced amounts of extracellular metabolites.