Measurement of ADCs may be used to characterize head and neck lesions.

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The production of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by microbes is an important characteristic for their selection as biocontrol agents against plant pathogens. In this study, we identified the VOCs produced by the biocontrol strain Bacillus amyloliquefaciens T-5 and evaluated their impact on the growth and virulence traits of tomato bacterial wilt pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum. The results showed that the VOCs of strain T-5 significantly inhibited the growth of R. solanacearum in agar medium and in soil. In addition, VOCs significantly inhibited the motility traits, root colonization, biofilm formation, and production of antioxidant enzymes and exopolysaccharides by R. solanacearum. However, no effect of VOCs on the production of hydrolytic enzymes by R. solanacearum was observed. The strain T-5 produced VOCs, including benzenes, ketones, aldehydes, alkanes, acids, and one furan and naphthalene compound; among those, 13 VOCs showed 1-10 % antibacterial activity against R. solanacearum in their produced amounts by T-5; however, the consortium of all VOCs produced on agar medium, in sterilized soil, and in natural soil showed 75, 62, and 85 % growth inhibition of R. solanacearum, respectively. The real-time PCR analysis further confirmed the results when the expression of different virulence- and metabolism-related genes in R. solanacearum cells was decreased after exposure to the VOCs of strain T-5. The results of this study clearly revealed the significance of VOCs in the control of plant pathogens. This information would help to better comprehend the microbial interactions mediated by VOCs in nature and to develop safer strategies to control plant disease.

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Maintaining soil fertility and the microbial communities that determine fertility is critical to sustainable agricultural strategies, and the use of different organic fertilizer (OF) regimes represents an important practice in attempts to preserve soil quality. However, little is known about the dynamic response of bacterial communities to fertilization regimes across crop growth stages. In this study, we examined microbial community structure and diversity across eight representative growth stages of wheat-rice rotation under four different fertilization treatments: no nitrogen fertilizer (NNF), chemical fertilizer (CF), organic–inorganic mixed fertilizer (OIMF), and OF. Quantitative PCR (QPCR) and high-throughput sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA gene fragments revealed that growth stage as the best predictor of bacterial community abundance and structure. Additionally, bacterial community compositions differed between wheat and rice rotations. Relative to soils under wheat rotation, soils under rice rotation contained higher relative abundances (RA) of anaerobic and mesophilic microbes and lower RA of aerophilic microbes. With respect to fertilization regime, NNF plots had a higher abundance of nitrogen–fixing Cyanobacteria. OIMF had a lower abundance of ammonia-oxidizing Thaumarchaeota compared with CF. Application of chemical fertilizers (CF and OIMF treatments) significantly increased the abundance of some generally oligotrophic bacteria such those belonging to the Acidobacteria, while more copiotrophic of the phylum Proteobacteria increased with OF application. A high correlation coefficient was found when comparing RA of Acidobacteria based upon QPCR vs. sequence analysis, yet poor correlations were found for the α- and β- Proteobacteria, highlighting the caution required when interpreting these molecular data. In total, crop, fertilization scheme and plant developmental stage all influenced soil microbial community structure, but not total levels of alpha diversity.

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