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Tomato plant growth promotion and antibacterial related-mechanisms of four rhizobacterial Bacillus strains against Ralstonia solanacearum

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Abstract

Bacillus strains are extensively studied for their beneficial role in plant growth and biological control of tomato bacterial wilt (TBW), however their underlying mechanisms remained unexplored. In this study, four rhizobacterial strains, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens D29, B. amyloliquefaciens Am1, B. subtilis D16 and B. methylotrophicus H8 were investigated for their antibacterial activity against (TBW) pathogen and their ability to stimulate Tomato growth. Results revealed that all four strains were able to form robust biofilm, produce Indole acetic acid (IAA) and siderophores, while only D29, Am1 and H8 have capability to solubilize phosphate. The culture filtrate of each strain significantly suppressed the growth and biofilm of Ralstonia solanacearum, where, the cell wall was severely disrupted, which resulted into cell lysis and subsequent leakage of intracellular cytosolic contents. PCR analysis revealed that all four strains are harboring the antimicrobial associated genes for biosynthesis of Bacyllomicin, Fengycin, Iturin, Surfactin and Bacylisin. Subsequent real-time qPCR analysis revealed that the expression of ituC and srfAA genes in Am1 and D16 was remarkably up-regulated during in vitro interaction with R. solanacearum. This suggest that the potential antibacterial and anti-biofilm related mechanisms are associated to their ability to secret the corresponding lipopeptides in surrounding niche. In greenhouse, a positive correlation (0.777 and 0.686) was noted between the IAA amount produced by Bacillus strains and fresh/dry weight of bacterized tomato plants. This the first report demonstrated the mode of antibacterial effect of Bacillus strains against R. solanacearum, moreover this study will help in understanding the mode of action of Bacillus strains during biological management of TBW and promoting the growth of tomato plants.

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Acknowledgment

This project was supported by the Special Fund for Agro-scientific Research in the Public Interest (201303015, 201003029) and Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (LY12C14007).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, Institute of Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, 866 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou,, 310058, People’s Republic of China

    Abdulwareth A. Almoneafy, Kaleem Ullah Kakar, Bin Li, Mumtaz Ali saand, Yang Chun-lan & Guan-Lin Xie

  2. Key Laboratory for Nuclear Agricultural Sciences of Ministry of Agriculture and Zhejiang Province Institute of Nuclear Agricultural Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310029, China

    Zarqa Nawaz

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  1. Abdulwareth A. Almoneafy
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  2. Kaleem Ullah Kakar
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  3. Zarqa Nawaz
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  4. Bin Li
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  5. Mumtaz Ali saand
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  6. Yang Chun-lan
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Correspondence to Guan-Lin Xie.

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Abdulwareth A. Almoneafy and Kaleem Ullah Kakar contributed equally to this work.

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Almoneafy, A.A., Kakar, K.U., Nawaz, Z. et al. Tomato plant growth promotion and antibacterial related-mechanisms of four rhizobacterial Bacillus strains against Ralstonia solanacearum . Symbiosis 63, 59–70 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13199-014-0288-9

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