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. 2022 May 20;11(5):778.
doi: 10.3390/biology11050778.

Genomic and Phenotypic Insights into the Potential of Bacillus subtilis YB-15 Isolated from Rhizosphere to Biocontrol against Crown Rot and Promote Growth of Wheat

Wen Xu  1 , Qian Yang  1   2 , Xia Xie  1 , Paul H Goodwin  3 , Xiaoxu Deng  1 , Jie Zhang  1 , Runhong Sun  1 , Qi Wang  4 , Mingcong Xia  1 , Chao Wu  1 , Lirong Yang  1
Affiliations

Genomic and Phenotypic Insights into the Potential of Bacillus subtilis YB-15 Isolated from Rhizosphere to Biocontrol against Crown Rot and Promote Growth of Wheat

Wen Xu et al. Biology (Basel). .

Abstract

Fusarium crown rot caused by Fusarium pseudograminearum is one of the most devastating diseases of wheat worldwide causing major yield and economic losses. In this study, strain YB-15 was isolated from soil of wheat rhizosphere and classified as Bacillus subtilis by average nucleotide identity analysis. It significantly reduced Fusarium crown rot with a control efficacy of 81.50% and significantly improved the growth of wheat seedlings by increasing root and shoot fresh weight by 11.4% and 4.2%, respectively. Reduced Fusarium crown rot may have been due to direct antagonism by the production of β-1, 3-glucanase, amylase, protease and cellulase, or by the ability of B. subtilis YB-15 to induce defense-related enzyme activities of wheat seedlings, both alone and in seedlings infected with F. pseudograminearum. Improved plant growth may be related to the ability of B. subtilis YB-15 to secrete indole acetic acid and siderophores, as well as to solubilize phosphorus. In addition, the genome of strain YB-15 was determined, resulting in a complete assembled circular genome of 4,233,040 bp with GC content of 43.52% consisting of 4207 protein-encoding genes. Sequencing the B. subtilis YB-15 genome further revealed genes for encoding carbohydrate-active enzymes, biosynthesis of various secondary metabolites, nutrient acquisition, phytohormone production, chemotaxis and motility, which could explain the potential of strain YB-15 to be plant growth-promoting bacteria and biological control agent. B. subtilis YB-15 appears to be a promising biocontrol agent against Fusarium crown rot as well as for wheat growth promotion.

Keywords: Bacillus subtilis; Fusarium pseudograminearum; biocontrol agent; genome characterization; growth promotion; wheat.

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Conflict of interest statement

All the authors declare that there was no potential conflict of commercial or financial interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Characteristics of strain YB-15: (A,B) Dual culture of F. pseudograminearum and strain YB-15 on PDA.
Figure 2
Figure 2
PGP and Antifungal traits of strain YB-15: (A) The upper indicating IAA production by pink coloration; (B) Yellow-orange halos indicating siderophore production; (C) Phosphorus solubilization indicated by a halo zone around strain YB-15 colonies; (D) β-1, 3-glucanase activity indicated by a zone around strain YB-15 colonies; (E) Amylase activity indicated by a clear zone around strain YB-15 colonies; (F) Protease activity indicated by an obvious hydrolytic zone around strain YB-15 colonies; (G) Cellulase activity indicated by a zone of hydrolysis around strain YB-15 colonies.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effect of strain YB-15 against Fusarium crown rot caused by F.pseudograminearum and on growth of wheat seedlings: (A,E) seeds soaked with YB-15 and planted in sterile soil without pathogen inoculum; (B,F) seeds not soaked with YB-15 and planted in sterile soil without pathogen inoculum; (C,G) seeds soaked with YB-15 and planted in sterile soil with pathogen inoculum; (D,H) seeds not soaked with YB-15 and planted in sterile soil with pathogen inoculum.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Circular map of B. subtilis YB-15 genome visualized by CGView Server. The distribution of rings from outwards to inwards be: ring 1 and 2 for protein-coding genes on the forward strand and reverse strand; ring 3 for GC skew in plus (green) and GC skew in minus (purple); ring 4 for GC content (black).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Heatmap of ANIvalues based on whole-genome sequences of B. subtilis YB-15 and 10 other Bacillus species.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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