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Interference in quorum sensing and virulence of the phytopathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. passiflorae by Bacillus and Variovorax species

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Abstract

Pathogenic bacteria often engage in a form of cell-to-cell communication termed quorum sensing (QS) to coordinate the expression of multiple virulence factors. Therefore, interference of QS has potential as a means of controlling bacterial-mediated plant diseases. Accordingly, this study was aimed at: (1) identifying QS signals produced by the phytopathogen, Pseudomonas syringae pv. passiflorae, and (2) evaluating interference in QS and virulence of the pathogen by putative N-acyl homoserine lactone (AHL)-degrading Bacillus and Variovorax species as a biocontrol strategy. Detection of AHLs using the biosensor strain and high-resolution mass spectroscopy suggested that P. syringae pv. passiflorae produced N-tetradecanoyl homoserine lactone and N-hexanoyl homoserine lactone as quorum-sensing signal molecules. Evaluation of putative AHL-degrading bacteria as biocontrol agents, through a series of inhibition assays (inhibition of motility, biofilm and virulence factors), suggested that bacteria which targets AHLs could be used to control P. syringae pv. passiflorae. We further demonstrated that putative AHL-degrading Bacillus and Variovorax species prevented hypersensitivity in tomato plants by P. syringae pv. passiflorae. Taken together, these results indicated that putative AHL-degrading bacteria were potential biocontrol agents against P. syringae pv. passiflorae and reinforced the idea that disrupting QS and associated virulence factors could be an effective method in controlling plant pathogens.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India under grant no. SERB/LS-737/2012. We are grateful to Prof. Shai Morin, Department of Entomology (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem) for his guidance and support in GLM statistical analysis. Moreover, we thank the editors and the anonymous reviewers for their patient guidance and critical comments to improve the manuscript.

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  1. Polpass Arul Jose

    Present address: Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel

  2. Polpass Arul Jose and Ramasamy Krishnamoorthy have equally contributed to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural Microbiology, Agricultural College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, 625 104, India

    Polpass Arul Jose, Ramasamy Krishnamoorthy, Veeranan Janahiraman, Karunanandham Kumutha & Rangasamy Anandham

  2. Korean Agricultural Culture Collection, National Academy of Agricultural Science, Rural Development Administration, Jeonju, 565 851, Republic of Korea

    Soon-Wo Kwon

  3. Department of Agricultural Microbiology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India

    Murugaiyan Senthilkumar & Nellaiappan O. Gopal

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  1. Polpass Arul Jose
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Correspondence to Rangasamy Anandham.

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Jose, P.A., Krishnamoorthy, R., Kwon, SW. et al. Interference in quorum sensing and virulence of the phytopathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. passiflorae by Bacillus and Variovorax species. BioControl 64, 423–433 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-019-09932-6

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