SummaryRoot-knot nematodes (RKNs; Meloidogyne spp.) are plant parasites with a broad host range causing great losses worldwide. To parasitize their hosts, RKNs establish feeding sites in roots known as giant cells. The majority of work studying plant-RKN interactions in susceptible hosts addresses establishment of the giant cells and there is limited information on the early defense responses.Here we characterized early defense or pattern-triggered immunity (PTI) against RKNs in Arabidopsis thaliana. To address PTI, we evaluated known canonical PTI signaling mutants with RKNs and investigated the expression of PTI marker genes after RKN infection using both quantitative PCR and b-glucuronidase reporter transgenic lines.We showed that PTI-compromised plants have enhanced susceptibility to RKNs, including the bak1-5 mutant. BAK1 is a common partner of distinct receptors of microbe-and damageassociated molecular patterns. Furthermore, our data indicated that nematode recognition leading to PTI responses involves camalexin and glucosinolate biosynthesis. While the RKNinduced glucosinolate biosynthetic pathway was BAK1-dependent, the camalexin biosynthetic pathway was only partially dependent on BAK1.Combined, our results indicate the presence of BAK1-dependent and -independent PTI against RKNs in A. thaliana, suggesting the existence of diverse nematode recognition mechanisms.

Aims Phytophthora root and stem rot caused by the oomycete plant pathogen Phytophthora sojae (Kaufmann & Gerdemann), is a destructive disease of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]. There is no straightforward available method to control this disease. The present study aimed to isolate a biocontrol agent (BCA) to control Phytophthora rot and gain insights into the mechanisms of biocontrol activity. Methods Antagonistic bacteria screening, inoculation assays, histochemical and fluorometric staining and real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were used to achieve the goals of the present study.Results The results indicated that the isolated BCA strain JSCX-1 was characterized as Bacillus altitudinis. Further studies showed that JSCX-1 bacterial filtrate inhibited the mycelial growth and zoospore germination of P. sojae. Greenhouse experiments showed that biocontrol efficiency of JSCX-1 against P. sojae was 49.28 ± 3.42%. Our results revealed that JSCX-1 increased the reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and callose deposition of soybean leaves. Moreover, JSCX-1 upregulated the transcriptional level of the G. max PR1a gene but not that of the LOX and ERF genes. Conclusions B. altitudinis JSCX-1 can effectively reduce the infectivity of P. sojae via increasing the ROS production and callose deposition on soybean, and up-regulating the expression of salicylate-responsive gene GmPR1a.

Root knot nematodes (RKN, Meloidogyne spp.) are serious pathogens of numerous crops worldwide. Understanding the roles plant rhizosphere soil microbiome play during RKN infection is very important. The current study aims at investigating the impacts of soil microbiome on the activity of RKN. In this study, the 16S rRNA genes of the bacterial communities from nematode-infested and non-infested rhizosphere soils from four different plants were sequenced on the Illumina Hi-Seq platform. The soil microbiome effects on RKN infection were tested in a greenhouse assay. The non-infested soils had more microbial diversity than the infested soils from all plant rhizospheres, and both soil types had exclusive microbial communities. The inoculation of the microbiomes from eggplant and cucumber non-infested soils to tomato plants significantly alleviated the RKN infection, while the microbiome from infested soil showed increased the RKN infection. Furthermore, bacteria Pseudomonas sp. and Bacillus sp. were screened out from non-infested eggplant soil and exhibited biocontrol activity to RKN on tomato. Our findings suggest that microbes may regulate RKN infection in plants and are involved in biocontrol of RKN. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s00248-019-01319-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Colletotrichum acutatum, the main pathogen causing anthracnose on chili worldwide, is controlled by tebuconazole [a sterol C14-demethylation inhibitor (DMI) fungicide, abbreviated as Teb] with excellent efficacy. Our previous study exhibited that all C. acutatum isolates were sensitive to Teb while the Colletotrichum gloeosporioides population had developed resistance to Teb on the same fungicide-pressure selection. Therefore, the assessment of Teb-resistance in C. acutatum is impending. Twenty Teb-resistant (TebR) mutants obtained by fungicide domestication and ultraviolet (UV)-mutagenesis displayed similar fitness compared to parental isolates. Data in the current study exhibited that mutations at CaCYP51A and/or overexpression of CaCYP51s were responsible for Teb-resistance. Furthermore, the deletion mutants ΔCaCYP51A and ΔCaCYP51B played different roles in sensitivities to DMIs. Taken together, this study first reported that mutations at CaCYP51A and/or overexpression of CaCYP51s conferred resistance to Teb in C. acutatum, CaCYP51A and CaCYP51B are functionally redundant, but differentially regulated in DMI resistance.

As a non-pathogenic oomycete, the biocontrol agent Pythium oligandrum is able to control plant diseases through direct mycoparasite activity and boosting plant immune responses. Several P. oligandrum elicitors have been found to activate plant immunity as microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs). Necrosis- and ethylene-inducing peptide 1 (Nep1)-like proteins (NLPs) are a group of MAMPs widely distributed in eukaryotic and prokaryotic plant pathogens. However, little is known about their distribution and functions in P. oligandrum and its sister species Pythium periplocum. Here, we identified a total of 25 NLPs from P. oligandrum (PyolNLPs) and P. periplocum (PypeNLPs). Meanwhile, we found that PyolNLPs/PypeNLPs genes cluster in two chromosomal segments, and our analysis suggests that they expand by duplication and share a common origin totally different from that of pathogenic oomycetes. Nine PyolNLPs/PypeNLPs induced necrosis in Nicotiana benthamiana by agroinfiltration. Eight partially purified PyolNLPs/PypeNLPs were tested for their potential biocontrol activity. PyolNLP5 and PyolNLP7 showed necrosis-inducing activity in N. benthamiana via direct protein infiltration. At sufficient concentrations, they both significantly reduced disease severity and suppressed the in planta growth of Phytophthora capsici in solanaceous plants including N. benthamiana (tobacco), Solanum lycopersicum (tomato) and Capsicum annuum (pepper). Our assays suggest that the Phytophthora suppression effect of PyolNLP5 and PyolNLP7 is irrelevant to reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation. Instead, they induce the expression of antimicrobial plant defensin genes, and the induction depends on their conserved nlp24-like peptide pattern. This work demonstrates the biocontrol role of two P. oligandrum NLPs for solanaceous plants, which uncovers a novel approach of utilizing NLPs to develop bioactive formulae for oomycete pathogen control with no ROS-caused injury to plants.

Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) were studied with regard to their potential application as inhibitors of biocorrosion. EPS that have been isolated from biofilms of sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB) were adsorbed on samples of high alloyed steel (type 1.4301) at different temperatures. The samples were exposed to SRB containing solution and afterwards analysed by fluorescence microscopy (FM). The results show that the EPS form an incomplete layer and lead to a smaller amount of cell adhesion when compared to pure surfaces. The results are discussed with regard to the application of EPS for the prevention of biofilm formation.

The rhizobacterial strain Jdm2 was isolated from the rhizosphere of the traditional Chinese medicinal herb Trichosanthes kirilowii in Jiangsu province, China, and was identified as Bacillus subtilis. Exposure of cell-free filtrate of the strain to the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita under in vitro conditions caused substantial mortality of the second stage juvenile (J2) and significantly reduced egg hatchability. A greenhouse trial demonstrated that 56 days after treatment with Jdm2, the number of galls associated with M. incognita infection in the tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) roots was significantly reduced compared to controls, and the disease severity of infected plants was lower in treated plants (36%) compared to water control (75%). Consistently, in the field trial, the biocontrol efficacy of Jdm2 reached 69%, 51% and 48% after 30, 60 and 90 days post-transplantation, respectively. As indicated by PCR-DGGE analysis, inoculation with Jdm2 strain had an effect on the bacterial community of the tomato rhizosphere at the first stage, but was not able to imperil the bacterial community stability for long time. The novel bacterial strain Jdm2 enhances plant growth and inhibits nematode activity, and has the potential to be a safe and effective microbial pesticide.