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Production of Bioactive Volatiles by Different Burkholderia ambifaria Strains

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An Erratum to this article was published on 23 October 2013

Abstract

Increasing evidence indicates that volatile compounds emitted by bacteria can influence the growth of other organisms. In this study, the volatiles produced by three different strains of Burkholderia ambifaria were analysed and their effects on the growth of plants and fungi, as well as on the antibiotic resistance of target bacteria, were assessed. Burkholderia ambifaria emitted highly bioactive volatiles independently of the strain origin (clinical environment, rhizosphere of pea, roots of maize). These volatile blends induced significant biomass increase in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana as well as growth inhibition of two phytopathogenic fungi (Rhizoctonia solani and Alternaria alternata). In Escherichia coli exposed to the volatiles of B. ambifaria, resistance to the aminoglycoside antibiotics gentamicin and kanamycin was found to be increased. The volatile blends of the three strains were similar, and dimethyl disulfide was the most abundant compound. Sulfur compounds, ketones, and aromatic compounds were major groups in all three volatile profiles. When applied as pure substance, dimethyl disulfide led to increased plant biomass, as did acetophenone and 3-hexanone. Significant fungal growth reduction was observed with high concentrations of dimethyl di- and trisulfide, 4-octanone, S-methyl methanethiosulphonate, 1-phenylpropan-1-one, and 2-undecanone, while dimethyl trisulfide, 1-methylthio-3-pentanone, and o-aminoacetophenone increased resistance of E. coli to aminoglycosides. Comparison of the volatile profile produced by an engineered mutant impaired in quorum-sensing (QS) signalling with the corresponding wild-type led to the conclusion that QS is not involved in the regulation of volatile production in B. ambifaria LMG strain 19182.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Prof. Dr. Katharina Riedel for initiating collaboration between S.S. and L.W. and for helpful discussions. We thank Dr. Aurélien Carlier for his valuable advice regarding construction of the bafI mutant. This research was partly funded by a Plant Science Centre-Syngenta Fellowship to A.B. and by the Swiss National Science Foundation (project 31003A-130089).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Organic Chemistry, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Hagenring 30, 38106, Braunschweig, Germany

    Ulrike Groenhagen & Stefan Schulz

  2. Institute of Plant Biology, University of Zurich, Zollikerstrasse 107, 8008, Zurich, Switzerland

    Rita Baumgartner, Aurélien Bailly, Amber Gardiner, Leo Eberl & Laure Weisskopf

  3. Federal Research Station Agroscope Reckenholz-Tänikon, Reckenholzstrasse 191, 8046, Zurich, Switzerland

    Laure Weisskopf

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  1. Ulrike Groenhagen
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Correspondence to Stefan Schulz or Laure Weisskopf.

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Ulrike Groenhagen and Rita Baumgartner equally contributing authors.

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Groenhagen, U., Baumgartner, R., Bailly, A. et al. Production of Bioactive Volatiles by Different Burkholderia ambifaria Strains. J Chem Ecol 39, 892–906 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-013-0315-y

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