Abstract
Candidatus Phytoplasma, the causative agent of yellows disease, inflicts substantial damage on several hundred plant species including perennials and annual plants. The endophytic bacterium Frateuria defendens reduces the symptoms of yellows disease in a number of agricultural crops. One possible mode of action is that the bacterium secretes antimicrobial metabolites. To test this hypothesis, the substances secreted by the endophyte during 10 days of growth in an artificial medium were identified by GC-MS (gas chromatography–mass spectrometry). Synthetic analogues to these substances were then used on periwinkle, a nurse culture plant infected by phytoplasma. Phytoplasma quantities were evaluated by quantitative PCR, and disease symptoms were monitored and recorded. It was found that specific compounds identified by the biochemical analysis caused a significant reduction in both the titer of phytoplasma and the disease symptoms in periwinkle when compared to untreated infected plants. Further research is required to examine the potential of these compounds as an effective treatment against yellows disease.
Highlights
Bacteria-inhabiting plants and their surroundings secrete natural products that can play a significant role in developing sustainable agriculture [1]
Numerous bio-active metabolites that are toxic to pathogens are secreted by different bacterial biocontrol agents (bBCA) such as hydrogen cyanide, phenazines, pyrrolnitrin, and pyoluteorin [17] and can be used as effective control agents with or without the secreting bacterium [18,19]
The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of secreted metabolites from F. defendens on phytoplasma titer and yellows disease symptoms in infected periwinkle and to identify the active metabolites
Summary
Bacteria-inhabiting plants and their surroundings secrete natural products that can play a significant role in developing sustainable agriculture [1]. Endophytes (microorganisms that inhabit the plant inner tissues without causing any harm) produce bioactive compounds with chemical structures that have been optimized by evolution to enhance plant fitness including protection from different phytopathogens [2]. Diseases inflicted by phloem-inhabiting bacteria from the genus Candidatus Phytoplasma (Acholeplasmatales; Acholeplasmataceae) (hereafter referred to as phytoplasma) are vectored by insects of the Hemiptera order and harm various plants including perennial and annual crops [3]. Wine grapes are a high-value crop that suffers from substantial damage caused by Ca. Phytoplasma solani and Ca. Phytoplasma vitis, which inflict the Bois Noir and Flavescence dorée diseases, respectively [4,5,6]. Current management approaches of phytoplasma diseases rely mainly on limiting the population of the insect vector by chemical pesticide application. In many cases such as Bois Noir disease, the polyphagous
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