Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus, a sugarcane endophyte, inhibits xanthan production by sugarcane-invading Xanthomonas albilineans

Abstract

Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus secretes to the culture medium a lysozyme, active against Xanthomonas albilineans. High molecular mass glycoproteins, obtained from sugarcane stalks, initially inhibit the secretion of the enzyme from bacteria to the culture medium, but it is actively secreted later. Alternatively, the production of these plant glycoproteins decreases when G. diazotrophicus is experimentally inoculated into sugarcane stalk segments. Xanthan production is achieved by the pathogen X. albilineans infecting sugarcane stalks but it was nullified by G. diazotrophicus when the endosymbiont is growing in plant tissues together the pathogen.