No abstract

Summary Pseudomonas donghuensis strain SVBP6, an isolate from an agricultural plot in Argentina, displays a broad‐spectrum and diffusible antifungal activity, which requires a functional gacS gene but could not be ascribed yet to known secondary metabolites typical of Pseudomonas biocontrol species. Here, we report that Tn5 mutagenesis allowed the identification of a gene cluster involved in both the fungal antagonism and the production of a soluble tropolonoid compound. The ethyl acetate extract from culture supernatant showed a dose‐dependent inhibitory effect against the phytopathogenic fungus Macrophomina phaseolina. The main compound present in the organic extract was identified by spectroscopic and X‐ray analyses as 7‐hydroxytropolone (7HT). Its structure and tautomerism was confirmed by preparing the two key derivatives 2,3‐dimethoxy‐ and 2,7‐dimethoxy‐tropone. 7HT, but not 2,3‐ or 2,7‐dimethoxy‐tropone, mimicked the fungal inhibitory activity of the ethyl acetate extract from culture supernatant. The activity of 7HT, as well as its production, was barely affected by the presence of up to 50 μM added iron (Fe+2). To summarize, P. donghuensis SVBP6 produces 7HT under the positive control of the Gac‐Rsm cascade and is the main active metabolite responsible for the broad‐spectrum inhibition of different phytopathogenic fungi.

In the article by Ruiz et al. that appears in the Journal of Microbiology 2011; 49, 902-912. On page 902, the names and affiliations of first and third author, Dante Ruiza and Patrice de Werrab, should be changed as follows.

Plant-growth promotion has been linked to the Pseudomonas genus since the beginning of this research field. In this work, we mined the genome of an Argentinean isolate of the recently described species P. donghuensis. Strain SVBP6, isolated from bulk soil of an agricultural plot, showed a broad antifungal activity and several other plant-probiotic activities. As this species has been recently described, and it seems like some plant-growth promoting (PGP) traits do not belong to the classical pseudomonads toolbox, we decide to explore the SVBP6 genome via an bioinformatic approach. Genome inspection confirmed our previous in vitro results about genes involved in several probiotic activities. Other genetic traits possibly involved in survival of SVBP6 in highly competitive environments, such as rhizospheres, were found. Tn5 mutagenesis revealed that the antifungal activity against the soil pathogen Macrophomina phaseolina was dependent on a functional gacS gene, from the regulatory cascade Gac-Rsm, but it was not due to volatile compounds. Altogether, our genomic analyses and in vitro tests allowed the phylogenetic assignment and provided the first insights into probiotic properties of the first P. donghuensis isolate from the Americas.