Role of Microbial Volatile Organic Compounds in Promoting Plant Growth and Disease Resistance in Horticultural Production.

Microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs) are a diverse group of volatile organic compounds that microorganisms may produce and release into the environment. These compounds have both positive and negative effects on plants, as they have been shown to be effective at mitigating stresses and functioning as immune stimulants. Furthermore, MVOCs modulate plant growth and systemic plant resistance, while also serving as attractants or repellents for insects and other stressors that pose threats to plants. Considering the economic value of strawberries as one of the most popular and consumed fruits worldwide, harnessing the benefits of MVOCs becomes particularly significant. MVOCs offer cost-effective and efficient solutions for disease control and pest management in horticultural production, as they can be utilized at low concentrations. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the current knowledge on microorganisms that contribute to the production of beneficial volatile organic compounds for enhancing disease resistance in fruit products, with a specific emphasis on broad horticultural production. The review also identifies research gaps and highlights the functions of MVOCs in horticulture, along with the different types of MVOCs that impact plant disease resistance in strawberry production. By offering a novel perspective on the application and utilization of volatile organic compounds in sustainable horticulture, this review presents an innovative approach to maximizing the efficiency of horticultural production through the use of natural products.

The interaction of Vatairea macrocarca and Rhizobium tropici: net H+ efflux stimulus and alteration of extracellular Na+ concentration.

We studied the effect of a lectin isolated from seeds of the legume Vatairea macrocarpa on net H+ efflux in Rhizobium tropici, a bacterium capable of nodulating legume Phaseolus vulgaris. V. macrocarpa lectin (VML) was observed to temporarily stimulate the specific net H(+) efflux in R. tropici. When VML was present at 32 microg ml(-1), with or without 2 microM galactose (Gal), a specific net efflux >2.4 pM H+(min)(-1) mg dry biomass(-1) was induced. There was no detectable net H+ efflux when bovine serum albumin (16 microg ml(-1)) was tested. Addition of 16 microgVMLml(-1) resulted in a 700% increase of the extracellular Na+ concentration. The soluble proteins in the supernatant containing VML extract indicate a maximum immobilization of +/-10 microgVMLml(-1), with a minimum of 36,600 dimers or 8500 larger aggregates of VML binding in each bacterium. Our data suggest that VML activates Rhizobium as a bioenergetic substrate molecule, resulting in potential alterations of the external bacterial membrane.

Potential for misidentification of a spore-forming Paenibacillus polymyxa isolate as an endophyte by using culture-based methods.

While Paenibacillus polymyxa strain Pw-2 has been identified as an endophyte of lodgepole pine (M. Shishido, B. M. Loeb, and C. P. Chanway, Can. J. Microbiol. 41:707-713, 1995), P. polymyxa strain L6 has not, a distinction that could be explained by the differential abilities of these isolates to form spores, rather than the differential abilities to colonize the interior tissues of lodgepole pine. Chemical disinfection was used to destroy bacteria on the root exterior, but bacterial endospores are known for their ability to withstand chemical disinfection, and strain Pw-2 was found to produce 300 to 11,000 times more germinating endospores than strain L6 under the experimental conditions used by Shishido et al. (Can. J. Microbiol. 41:707-713, 1995). Attempts to identify strain Pw-2 within lodgepole pine root tissues by using confocal microscopy techniques failed. We discuss the possibility that spore-forming bacteria can be mistakenly identified as endophytes when culture-based methods alone are used.

Temporary loss of antibiotic resistance by marked bacteria in the rhizosphere of spruce seedlings.

Survival and persistence of two plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria strains in the rhizosphere of young spruce seedlings were evaluated in field plots and soil microcosms. Bacillus polymyxa strain Pw-2R and Pseudomonas fluorescens strain Sw5-RN are spontaneous antibiotic-resistant derivatives of the naturally occurring parental strains B. polymyxa Pw-2 and P. fluorescens Sw5, respectively. Resistance to 200 microg ml(-1) rifamycin in strain Pw-2R, and to 100 microg ml(-1) each of rifamycin and nalidixic acid in Sw5-RN, facilitated monitoring of these bacteria in rhizosphere samples. Strains Pw-2R and Sw5-RN were each inoculated into the rhizosphere of spruce seedlings in field plots as well as in intact soil core microcosms that were incubated under controlled environmental conditions. Bacterial survival data based on the abilities of Pw-2R and Sw5-RN to be re-isolated from rhizosphere samples, and by growing on agar containing antibiotics, were collected over a 2-year period as part of a larger study. The population sizes of both bacterial strains appeared to drop below detection limits by the beginning of the second year as they failed to grow on primary isolation media containing antibiotics. However, strains Pw-2R and Sw5-RN grew on isolation medium with antibiotics if they were first isolated on agar without antibiotics and then replica-plated onto agar media containing antibiotics. A similar temporary loss of antibiotic resistance has been observed with endophytic bacteria, but our results suggest such masking may be of much wider significance than previously thought. If it commonly occurs in rhizosphere colonizing bacteria as well as endophytes, significant underestimates of bacterial population sizes in similar environmental samples may result.