Surfactin Protects Wheat against Zymoseptoria tritici and Activates Both Salicylic Acid- and Jasmonic Acid-Dependent Defense Responses

Abstract

Natural elicitors induce plant resistance against a broad spectrum of diseases, and are currently among the most promising biocontrol tools. The present study focuses on the elicitor properties of the cyclic lipopeptide surfactin on wheat, in order to stimulate the defenses of this major crop against the challenging fungal pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici. The protection efficacy of surfactin extracted from the strain Bacillus amyloliquefaciens S499 was investigated through greenhouse trials. Surfactin protected wheat by 70% against Z. tritici, similarly to the chemical reference elicitor Bion ® 50WG. In vitro biocidal assays revealed no antifungal activities of surfactin towards the pathogen. A biomolecular RT-qPCR based low-density microarray tool was used to study the relative expression of 23 wheat defense genes. Surfactin significantly induced wheat natural defenses by stimulating both salicylic acid-and jasmonic acid-dependent signaling pathways. Surfactin was successfully tested as an elicitor on the pathosystem wheat-Z. tritici. These results promote further sustainable agricultural practices and the reduction of chemical inputs.

Suppression of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum by the Induction of Systemic Resistance and Regulation of Antioxidant Pathways in Tomato Using Fengycin Produced by Bacillus amyloliquefaciens FZB42

“…Isoprenoids are significant for their role in plant defense against biotic and abiotic stresses. Like our results, previously, surfactin induced the overexpression of GST and HMGR genes and contributed to the activation of plant defense against Zymoseptoria tritici in wheat [79]. In support of our hypothesis, the expression of all these defense-related genes was up-regulated in the present study as a response to fengycin treatment to protect the plants against S. sclerotiorum infection.…”

Biosurfactants in Plant Protection Against Diseases: Rhamnolipids and Lipopeptides Case Study

“…Compared to surfactin, bacillomycin D produced by B. velezensis SQR9 has a comparable efficacy in Arabidopsis ISR elicitation to prevent infection by P. syringae or B. cinerea ( Wu et al, 2018 ). In wheat plants, resistance toward Zymoseptoria tritici , was activated by pure surfactin used at concentrations ranging from 1 to 100 μM upon foliar application ( Le Mire et al, 2018 ). Some CLPs synthesized by Pseudomonas sp.…”

Sesamol‐based terpenoids as promising bio‐sourced crop protection compounds against the wheat pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici

“…Thanks to their numerous biological activities and their ability to permeate the skin, monoterpenes and monophenols constitute a significant part of the whole group of the aforementioned secondary metabolites 9–12 . As a consequence, and following our continuous interest in developing new antimicrobial agents, 13–23 a selection of 20 natural terpenoid candidates have been selected as potential crop protection compounds against Z. tritici for in vitro evaluation. Among them, three subgroups can be defined: (i) terpenes, (ii) terpenoic alcohols and ethers, and (iii) phenolic derivatives (Table 1).…”