Antimicrobial activity of methanolic extracts of Vernonia cinerea against Xanthomonas oryzae and identification of their compounds using in silico techniques.

Bacterial Leaf Blight (BLB) disease is an extremely ruinous disease in rice, caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo). Although various chemicals are available to manage BLB, they are toxic to the environment as well as humans. Hence there is a need to develop new pesticides as alternatives to hazardous chemicals. Therefore, a study was carried out to discover new potent natural pesticides against Xoo from different solvent extracts of Vernonia cinerea. Among all the fractions, the methanolic extract showed the highest inhibition zone. Further, to gain mechanistic insight of inhibitory action, 40 molecules of methanolic extracts were subjected for in silico study against two enzymes D-alanine-D-alanine ligase (Ddl) and Peptide deformylase (PDF). In silico study showed Rutin and Methanone, [1,4-dimethyl-7-(1- methylethyl)-2- azulenyl]phenyl have a good binding affinity with Ddl while Phenol, 2,4-bis(1-phenylethyl)- and 1,2-Benzenedicarboxylic acid, diisooctyl ester showed an excellent binding affinity to PDF. Finally, the system biology approach was applied to understand the agrochemical's effect in the cell system of bacteria against both the enzymes. Conclusively, these four-hit compounds may have strong potential against Xoo and can be used as biopesticides in the future.

Co-culture development and bioformulation efficacy of psychrotrophic PGPRs to promote growth and development of Pea (Pisum sativum) plant.

Numerous microbes reside in the rhizosphere having plant growth promoting activity, and enhancing the property by increasing plant yield. Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) has gradually increased in agriculture and offers an attractive way to replace chemical fertilizers, pesticides and supplements. Soil was collected from the rhizosphere of an agricultural farm and the psychrotrophic bacterial strains STA3 (KY888133) and RM2 (KY888134) were successfully isolated, and screened on the basis of phosphate solubilization. Further characterization was carried out by morphological, biochemical, and 16S rDNA characterization methods. The unique nature of psychrotrophic Pentoea ananatis and a suitable combination with Pseudomonas fluorescens regarding plant growth promotion activity has not been studied before to our knowledge. An assessment of various parameters of plant growth promoting activity, such as IAA, phosphate solubilization, bio-control activity, HCN and siderophore production, has been carried out. Both strains were found to be positive in various parameters except HCN and Biocontrol activity, which were positive only for the strain RM2. Also, shelf life and their efficacy was determined before and after formulation. A great consistency was observed in all the cultures, even after 70 days of storage under bio-formulation at room temperature, while in the case of the co-culture CPP-2, the cfu ml-1 was greater, followed by RM2 and STA3. Moreover, the growth indices of the pea plant were found to be better in the co-culture CPP-2 compared with individual strains, followed by RM2 and STA3. Thus, the study suggests that the co-culture CPP-2 has a great potential for plant growth promotion as compared with individual strains followed by RM2 and STA3.