Abstract
Purpose
The potential of endophytic bacteria to improve plant health has been well-established. In maize plants, studies have reported the antagonistic activity of endophytic bacteria against various kinds of phytopathogenic strains; however, the effect of lipopeptide inoculation on germinated seedlings and its underlying defense responses remain unexplored. In this study, we examined the effects of seed endophytic bacterium Bacillus velezensis and its lipopeptides in improving plant defense against Fusarium verticillioides in maize seedlings.
Methods
In vitro germinated maize seedlings were treated with lipopeptides extracted from the B. velezensis, followed by inoculation with the phytopathogen Fusarium verticillioides. The lipopeptides were characterized using MALDI-TOF analysis and their effects on fungal colonization and defense gene expression were investigated. Polyphenol content was checked in the bacterium-ZMW8 as well as ZMW8 and Fusarium-inoculated seedlings through UHPLC.
Results
Lipopeptide treatment to the maize seedling’s roots resulted in enhanced protection from the fungus with significant improvement in all the growth parameters measured. Antifungal lipopeptides were identified as bacillomycin D and fengycin. Confocal microscopy images revealed the heavy colonization of fungus on the seed and root surface of non-lipopeptide-treated seedlings. Gene expression analysis revealed upregulation of various defense response genes including ZmPR-1, ZmPR-4, ZmSOD-2, ZmLOX, ZmPDF1.2, and ZmERF in the roots of bacteria and lipopeptides-treated maize seedlings. Targeted metabolite analysis through UHPLC revealed the accumulation of antifungal polyphenols including p-coumaric acid, kaempferol, dihydrokaempferol (DHK), and dihydroquercetin (DHQ).
Conclusions
The study highlights the potential of bacterial lipopeptides as elicitors of defense responses in maize seedlings against Fusarium infection.
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Data Availability
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Acknowledgements
Authors are thankful to the Head and Coordinator CAS, FIST of Department of Botany, B.H.U., Varanasi, India for providing research facilities. The authors thank IoE-BHU for financial help as incentive grant. GP acknowledges the support from CSIR as JRF and SRF. SS and AP acknowledge the research facility support of NIPGR. This work was also supported by grant from the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India (Project P-07/1265) to SKV.
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This work was supported by grant from IoE-BHU and the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India (Project P07/1265).
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Idea was conceptualized by SKV and GP. Experiments were designed and performed by GP and SS. Article writing and image were made by GP, KK, AP, DK, PS and AV. Final editing was done by SKV, AP, SS and GP.
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Pal, G., Saxena, S., Kumar, K. et al. Seed endophytic bacterium Bacillus velezensis and its lipopeptides acts as elicitors of defense responses against Fusarium verticillioides in maize seedlings. Plant Soil 492, 109–124 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-023-06152-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-023-06152-x