Abstract
Bacillus mycoides strain BM02 originally isolated from the tomato rhizosphere was found to have beneficial functions in tomato by promoting plant growth and reducing the severity of Fusarium wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici (Fol). Cytological experiments demonstrated B. mycoides BM02 reduced Fol invasion by reducing spore attachment and increasing hyphal deformation in hydroponics-grown tomato root tissues. Two volatile antifungal compounds, phenylacetic acid (PAA) and methylphenyl acetate (MPA), were identified from the culture filtrates of B. mycoides BM02 by GC-MS analysis. Chemically synthesized PAA, and to a lower extent MPA, suppressed spore germination but have no effects on the hyphal growth of Fol. Our results indicated that the biocontrol agent B. mycoides BM02 produced an array of bioactive compounds including PAA and MPA to suppress plant diseases caused by Fol and other pathogenic microorganisms.
Highlights
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is an economically important vegetable crop worldwide whose productivity is greatly affected by plant pathogens
Of the attached Fol-4G spores, their germination in the water- and BM02-treated roots were similar with the percentages of 76.0 ± 20.9 (n = 26) and 73.5 ± 15.8 (n = 24), indicating the attached Fol spores on the hydroponic tomato root segments were competent for vegetative growth regardless of inoculum density or treatments
By comparing the fungal structures on tomato root segments upon the treatments of water and BM02, the percentages of swollen hyphae were calculated to be 1.1 ± 1.6 and 6.1 ± 8.2, respectively, which revealed that the BM02 treatment elicited the deformation of fungal hyphae and invasion structures
Summary
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is an economically important vegetable crop worldwide whose productivity is greatly affected by plant pathogens. Because Fol is a soil-borne fungal pathogen, the common tactics for controlling fungal diseases by fungicides are usually not effective and costly when it applies to the management of Fusarium wilt disease. To diminish the use of toxic fungicides with adverse ecological effects on soil microbial communities, biological control employing beneficial microbes could be an effective alternative, and it has been done with some success to manage Fusarium wilt disease in tomato (Larkin and Fravel, 1998; Amini and Sidovich, 2010; Barhate et al, 2015). Due to the complexity in the soil environment and quarantine regulations, it remains a daunting task to apply the bio-products to control Fusarium wilt disease in different climate and geographical regions.
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