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Diversity of Antimicrobial Peptide Genes in Bacillus from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands: Untapped Island Microbial Diversity for Disease Management in Crop Plants

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Abstract

Taxonomic and functional characterization of a total of 90 bacterial isolates representing bulk and rhizosphere soils of diverse niches of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India were carried out. Twelve bacterial isolates were found promising for the biological suppression of agriculturally important fungal and bacterial plant pathogens such as Ralstonia solanacearum, Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae, and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. The 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed their identity as belonging to Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, and Lysinibacillus sphaericus. The isolates were positive for plant growth promotion (PGP) traits including siderophore production, and nutrient solubilization especially phosphorous, zinc, and potassium. Interestingly, the PCR test confirmed the presence of 62 antimicrobial peptides (AMP) biosynthesis genes specific to the genus Bacillus. Whilst all tested species of Bacillus harboured the bacD biosynthesis gene, the B. subtilis (Ba_Abi), and B. amyloliquefaciens (Ba_Abi) harboured the maximum AMP biosynthesis genes analysed in the study. Upon in planta evaluation, the biocontrol potential of the bacterial isolates against leaf spot disease of chilli was observed. The study culminated in the isolation and identification of diverse Bacillus species for exploitation as bioinoculants for plant health management programmes.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Director, ICAR-Central Island Agricultural Research Institute, Port Blair, and ICAR-IARI for the kind support and encouragement. This research was supported by grants from a mega-network project entitled Application of Microorganisms for Agriculture and Allied Sector (AMAAS) of ICAR-Nation Bureau of Agriculturally Important Microorganisms, Mau, India. The authors are also thankful to all the earlier researchers who contributed bacterial collections for initial screening in this study.

Funding

This research was supported by grants from a mega-network project entitled Application of Microorganisms for Agriculture and Allied Sector (AMAAS) of ICAR-Nation Bureau of Agriculturally Important Microorganisms, Mau, India.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Field Crop Improvement and Protection, ICAR- Central Islands Agricultural Research Institute, Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, 744 101, India

    Krishnan Sakthivel, Reena Singh, Manisha Mohan Das, Varsha Devi & Raj Kumar Gautam

  2. Centre for Drug Discovery and Development, Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, 600 119, India

    Kaari Manigundan

  3. ICAR – National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Microorganisms, Maunath Bhanjan, Uttar Pradesh, 275 003, India

    Sushil Kumar Sharma

  4. Center for Plant Molecular Biology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, 641 003, India

    Sevugapperumal Nakkeeran

  5. Division of Plant Pathology, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 110012, India

    Aundy Kumar

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  1. Krishnan Sakthivel
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Contributions

KS and RKG collected samples. KS, MK, RS, and MMD performed the experiments, prepared and analysed the data. KS, VD and RS performed various assays; SKS, NS, and AK supervised the work. AK and KS drafted, and edited the manuscript. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Aundy Kumar.

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Sakthivel, K., Manigundan, K., Sharma, S.K. et al. Diversity of Antimicrobial Peptide Genes in Bacillus from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands: Untapped Island Microbial Diversity for Disease Management in Crop Plants. Curr Microbiol 80, 45 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-022-03086-y

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