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Implications of endophyte-plant crosstalk in light of quorum responses for plant biotechnology

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Abstract

Quorum sensing, the cell-to-cell communication system mediated by autoinducers, is responsible for regulation of virulence factors, infections, invasion, colonization, biofilm formation, and antibiotic resistance within bacterial populations. Concomitantly, quorum quenching is a process that involves attenuation of virulence factors by inhibiting or degrading quorum signaling autoinducers. Survival of endophytic microorganisms, commonly known as endophytes, in planta is a continuous mêlée with invading pathogens and pests. In order to survive in their microhabitats inside plants, endophytes have co-evolved to not only utilize an arsenal of biologically active defense compounds but also impede communication between invading pathogens. Such antivirulence strategies prevent pathogens from communicating with or recognizing each other and thus, colonizing plants. The quenching phenomena often involves microbial crosstalk within single or mixed population(s) vis-à-vis gene expression, and production/modulation of quenching enzymes coupled to various antagonistic and synergistic interactions. This concept is particularly interesting because it can be biotechnologically translated in the future to quorum inhibiting antivirulence therapies without triggering resistance in bacteria, which is currently a major problem worldwide that cannot be tackled only with antimicrobial therapies. In this mini-review, we highlight the quorum quenching capacity of endophytes with respect to attenuation of virulence factors and aiding in plant defense response. Further, benefits and potential challenges of using such systems in biotechnology are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the Ministry of Innovation, Science, Research, and Technology of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and TU Dortmund for funding.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemical and Chemical Engineering, Chair of Technical Biochemistry, TU Dortmund, Emil-Figge-Str. 66, 44227, Dortmund, Germany

    Parijat Kusari & Oliver Kayser

  2. Institute of Environmental Research (INFU), Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Chair of Environmental Chemistry and Analytical Chemistry, TU Dortmund, Otto-Hahn-Str. 6, 44221, Dortmund, Germany

    Souvik Kusari & Michael Spiteller

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  1. Parijat Kusari
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  2. Souvik Kusari
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  3. Michael Spiteller
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  4. Oliver Kayser
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Correspondence to Oliver Kayser.

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This manuscript is dedicated with best wishes to Professor Dr. Hartmut Laatsch on the occasion of his 69th birthday

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Kusari, P., Kusari, S., Spiteller, M. et al. Implications of endophyte-plant crosstalk in light of quorum responses for plant biotechnology. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 99, 5383–5390 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-015-6660-8

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