Plant pathogenic bacterium can rapidly evolve tolerance to an antimicrobial plant allelochemical

Abstract

Crop losses to plant pathogens are a growing threat to global food security, and hence, more effective control strategies are urgently required. Biofumigation, an agricultural technique, where Brassica plant tissues are mulched into soils to release antimicrobial plant allelochemicals called isothiocyanates (ITCs), has been proposed as an environmentally friendly alternative to synthetic agrochemicals. While biofumigation has been shown to suppress a range of plant pathogens, its effects on plant pathogenic bacteria remain largely unexplored. Here we used a laboratory model system to compare the efficacy of different types of ITCs against Ralstonia solanacearum plant bacterial pathogen. Additionally, we evaluated the potential for ITC-tolerance evolution under high, intermediate and low transfer frequency ITC exposure treatments. We found that allyl-ITC was the most efficient compound at suppressing R. solanacearum growth, and its efficacy was not improved when combined with other types of ITCs. Despite consistent pathogen growth suppression, ITC tolerance evolution was observed in the low transfer frequency exposure treatment. Mechanistically, tolerance was associated with parallel mutations in a gene linked to glucose/sorbonose dehydrogenase, resulting in cross-tolerance to ampicillin beta-lactam antibiotic. Interestingly, pathogen adaptation to the growth media also indirectly selected for increased ITC tolerance through potential metabolic adaptations linked with cell wall structure (serine/threonine kinase) and DNA replication, recombination and repair (deoxyribonucleases). Together, our results suggest that R. solanacearum can rapidly evolve tolerance to allyl-ITC plant allelochemical, which could constrain the long-term efficiency of biofumigation biocontrol and potentially shape pathogen evolution with plants.

Influence of insertion sequences on population structure of phytopathogenic bacteria in the Ralstonia solanacearum species complex

“…These findings supported previous analyses of RSSC IS which identified disruptions in type III effectors (26) and in the global virulence regulator phcA (27), the latter of which resulted in spontaneous phenotypic conversion between non-virulent and virulent pathogen genotypes. It was also recently shown that RSSC IS are highly mobile under lab conditions and may contribute to host competitiveness and environmental stress tolerance (28). However, thus far our understanding of IS in RSSC is based on experimental studies of individual strains (27,28) and a small number of genomes derived from publicly available databases (29).…”

“…It was also recently shown that RSSC IS are highly mobile under lab conditions and may contribute to host competitiveness and environmental stress tolerance (28). However, thus far our understanding of IS in RSSC is based on experimental studies of individual strains (27,28) and a small number of genomes derived from publicly available databases (29). As a result, the wider diversity and distribution of IS in RSSC is unknown.…”