Induction of sporangia in Phytophthora cinnamomi by a substance from bacteria and soil

An improved growth medium for enhanced inoculum production of the plant growth-promoting fungus Serendipita indica

BACKGROUND

The plant endophytic fungus Serendipita indica colonizes roots of a wide range of plant species and can enhance growth and stress resistance of these plants. Due to its ease of axenic cultivation and its broad host plant range including the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and numerous crop plants, it is widely used as a model fungus to study beneficial fungus-root interactions. In addition, it was suggested to be utilized for commercial applications, e.g. to enhance yield in barley and other species. To produce inoculum, S. indica is mostly cultivated in a complex Hill-Käfer medium (CM medium), however, growth in this medium is slow, and yield of chlamydospores, which are often used for plant root inoculation, is relatively low.

RESULTS

We tested and optimized a simple vegetable juice-based medium for an enhanced yield of fungal inoculum. The described vegetable juice (VJ) medium is based on commercially available vegetable juice and is easy to prepare. VJ medium was superior to the currently used CM medium with respect to biomass production in liquid medium and hyphal growth on agar plates. Using solid VJ medium supplemented with sucrose (VJS), a high amount of chlamydospores developed already after 8 days of cultivation, producing significantly more spores than on CM medium. Use of VJ medium is not restricted to S. indica, as it also supported growth of two pathogenic fungi often used in plant pathology experiments: the ascomycete Fusarium graminearum, the causal agent of Fusarium head blight disease on wheat and barley, and Verticillium longisporum, the causal agent of verticillium wilt.

CONCLUSIONS

The described VJ medium is recommended for streamlined and efficient production of inoculum for the plant endophytic fungus Serendipita indica and might prove superior for the propagation of other fungi for research purposes.

Soil bacteria as sources of virulence signal providers promoting plant infection by Phytophthora pathogens

Phytophthora species are known as "plant destroyers" capable of initiating single zoospore infection in the presence of a quorum of chemical signals from the same or closely related species of oomycetes. Since the natural oomycete population is too low to reach a quorum necessary to initiate a disease epidemic, creation of the quorum is reliant on alternate sources. Here, we show that a soil bacterial isolate, Bacillus megaterium Sb5, promotes plant infection by Phytophthora species. In the presence of Sb5 exudates, colonization of rhododendron leaf discs by 12 Phytophthora species/isolates was significantly enhanced, single zoospores of P. nicotianae infected annual vinca and P. sojae race 25 successfully attacked a non-host plant, Nicotiana benthamiana as well as resistant soybean cultivars with RPS1a or RPS3a. Sb5 exudates, most notably the fractions larger than 3 kDa, promoted plant infection by improving zoospore swimming, germination and plant attachment. Sb5 exudates also stimulated infection hypha growth and upregulated effector gene expression. These results suggest that environmental bacteria are important sources of virulence signal providers that promote plant infection by Phytophthora species, advancing our understanding of biotic factors in the environmental component of the Phytophthora disease triangle and of communal infection of plant pathogens.

Effects of Cellulytic Enzymes on Phytophthora cinnamomi

ABSTRACT Two enzyme systems, cellulase (beta-1,4-glucanase) and laminarinase (beta-1,3-glucanase), were added to soil extracts to simulate (in vitro) lytic components found in mulches suppressive to Phytophthora cinnamomi. Concentration ranges of each enzyme were incubated with Phytophthora cinnamomi mycelium, zoospores, zoospores cysts, and zoospore-infected excised roots to evaluate the roles of each enzyme in potential control of avocado root rot disease. Cellulase significantly retarded the development of zoosporangia and chlamydospores when mycelia were incubated in soil extract containing the enzyme at concentrations greater than 10 units/ml. Zoospore production was also reduced by cellulase but not by laminarinase. Laminarinase had little effect on zoosporangia or chlamydospore formation. At high concentrations, laminarinase was consistently more effective at preventing encystment than cellulase. Chlamydospores preformed in root tips were immune to the lytic effects of all treatments except cellulase at 100 units/ml. Zoospores placed in enzyme solutions and plated on a selective medium survived high cellulase concentrations and formed colonies, but there were fewer surviving zoospores when laminarinase was present at greater than 10 units/ml. Low concentrations of cellulase stimulated infection of excised roots, however, low concentrations of laminarinase prevented infection. Cellulase and laminarinase have different effects on the structures of the Phytophthora cinnamomi life history, however, each enzyme may have a role in reduction of inoculum.

Scanning Electron Microscope Studies of Interactions between Agaricus bisporus (Lang) Sing Hyphae and Bacteria in Casing Soil

Relationships between the hyphae of Agaricus bisporus (Lang) Sing and bacteria from the mushroom bed casing layer were examined with a scanning electron microscope. Hyphae growing in the casing layer differed morphologically from compost-grown hyphae. Whereas the compost contained thin single hyphae surrounded by calcium oxalate crystals, the casing layer contained mainly wide hyphae or mycelial strands without crystals. The bacterial population in the hyphal environment consisted of several types, some attached to the hyphae with filamentlike structures. This attachment may be important in stimulation of pinhead initiation.