scholarly journals Mechanisms of Action of Microbial Biocontrol Agents against Botrytis cinerea

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. 1045
Author(s):  
Rocío Roca-Couso ◽  
José David Flores-Félix ◽  
Raúl Rivas

Botrytis cinerea is a phytopathogenic fungus responsible for economic losses from USD 10 to 100 billion worldwide. It affects more than 1400 plant species, thus becoming one of the main threats to the agriculture systems. The application of fungicides has for years been an efficient way to control this disease. However, fungicides have negative environmental consequences that have changed popular opinion and clarified the need for more sustainable solutions. Biopesticides are products formulated based on microorganisms (bacteria or fungi) with antifungal activity through various mechanisms. This review gathers the most important mechanisms of antifungal activities and the microorganisms that possess them. Among the different modes of action, there are included the production of diffusible molecules, both antimicrobial molecules and siderophores; production of volatile organic compounds; production of hydrolytic enzymes; and other mechanisms, such as the competition and induction of systemic resistance, triggering an interaction at different levels and inhibition based on complex systems for the production of molecules and regulation of crop biology. Such a variety of mechanisms results in a powerful weapon against B. cinerea; some of them have been tested and are already used in the agricultural production with satisfactory results.

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Xu ◽  
Xiaoxia Li ◽  
Wenxing Liang ◽  
Mengjie Liu

Posttranslational modifications (PTMs) of the whole proteome have become a hot topic in the research field of epigenetics, and an increasing number of PTM types have been identified and shown to play significant roles in different cellular processes. Protein lysine 2-hydroxyisobutyrylation (Khib) is a newly detected PTM, and the 2-hydroxyisobutyrylome has been identified in several species. Botrytis cinerea is recognized as one of the most destructive pathogens due to its broad host distribution and very large economic losses; thus the many aspects of its pathogenesis have been continuously studied. However, distribution and function of Khib in this phytopathogenic fungus are not clear. In this study, a proteome-wide analysis of Khib in B. cinerea was performed, and 5,398 Khib sites on 1,181 proteins were identified. Bioinformatics analysis showed that the 2-hydroxyisobutyrylome in B. cinerea contains both conserved proteins and novel proteins when compared with Khib proteins in other species. Functional classification, functional enrichment and protein interaction network analyses showed that Khib proteins are widely distributed in cellular compartments and involved in diverse cellular processes. Significantly, 37 proteins involved in different aspects of regulating the pathogenicity of B. cinerea were detected as Khib proteins. Our results provide a comprehensive view of the 2-hydroxyisobutyrylome and lay a foundation for further studying the regulatory mechanism of Khib in both B. cinerea and other plant pathogens.


Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 492
Author(s):  
Hernando José Bolivar-Anillo ◽  
Victoria E. González-Rodríguez ◽  
Jesús M. Cantoral ◽  
Darío García-Sánchez ◽  
Isidro G. Collado ◽  
...  

Plant diseases are one of the main factors responsible for food loss in the world, and 20–40% of such loss is caused by pathogenic infections. Botrytis cinerea is the most widely studied necrotrophic phytopathogenic fungus. It is responsible for incalculable economic losses due to the large number of host plants affected. Today, B. cinerea is controlled mainly by synthetic fungicides whose frequent application increases risk of resistance, thus making them unsustainable in terms of the environment and human health. In the search for new alternatives for the biocontrol of this pathogen, the use of endophytic microorganisms and their metabolites has gained momentum in recent years. In this work, we isolated endophytic bacteria from Zea mays cultivated in Colombia. Several strains of Bacillus subtilis, isolated and characterized in this work, exhibited growth inhibition against B. cinerea of more than 40% in in vitro cultures. These strains were characterized by studying several of their biochemical properties, such as production of lipopeptides, potassium solubilization, proteolytic and amylolytic capacity, production of siderophores, biofilm assays, and so on. We also analyzed: (i) its capacity to promote maize growth (Zea mays) in vivo, and (ii) its capacity to biocontrol B. cinerea during in vivo infection in plants (Phaseolus vulgaris).


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-137
Author(s):  
Gbadebo E . Adeleke ◽  
Olaniyi T. Adedosu ◽  
Rachael O. Adeyi ◽  
John O. Fatoki

Background: Many plants have been identified for their insecticidal properties as alternatives to synthetic ones, which are toxic to untargeted organisms and environment. Ricinus communis (Castor) has been re-ported to exhibit insecticidal properties against insect pests. Zonocerus variegatus (Grasshopper) is a notable pest of several crops, and has been linked with great economic losses to farmers. The present study investigates the in-vitro toxicity of R. communis seed kernel extract (RCSKE) on the activities of selected antioxidant and hydrolytic enzymes in nymph and adult Zonocerus variegatus (Grasshopper), using cypermethrin (CYPER-M) and chlorpyrifos (CPF) as standard conventional pesticides. Methods: Seed kernel of Ricinus communis (Castor) was subjected to acidified aqueous extraction to obtain the extract (RCSKE). Crude enzyme preparations were obtained from nymph and adult Z. variegatus grass-hoppers. The in-vitro effects of different concentrations (15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90 and 105μg/ml) each of RCSKE, CYPER-M and CPF on the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and carboxylesterase (CES) in crude enzyme preparations were estimated spectrophotometrically. The level of statistical significance was 0.05. Results: The RCSKE significantly reduced the in-vitro SOD activity (p < 0.05) in nymph Z. variegatus at all the concentrations, whereas both CYPER-M and CPF significantly reduced the activity only at certain concentrations. The CAT activity in the nymph was significantly decreased by RCSKE and CPF at all the concentrations, but CYPER-M decreased it only at certain concentrations. In adult Z. variegatus, SOD activity was not significantly affected (p > 0.05), while CAT activity was significantly increased (p < 0.05) by the three agents at all the concentrations. The AChE and CES activities in the nymph were significantly reduced by RCSKE, CYPER-M and CPF at all the concentrations. The RCSKE and CPF significantly increased the CES activity, while CYPER-M caused a significant decrease in the activity in adult Z. variegatus. Conclusion: The seed kernel extract of Ricinus communis is an effective pesticidal agent and hence, it could be a source of biopesticide alternative with greater potential than cypermethrin and chlorpyrifos. In addition, the antioxidant, acetylcholinesterase and carboxylesterase enzymes in the nymphs of Z. variegatus grasshoppers are more susceptible to the effect of the extract than in the adult grasshoppers.


Landslides ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Brezzi ◽  
Alberto Bisson ◽  
Davide Pasa ◽  
Simonetta Cola

AbstractA large number of landslides occur in North-Eastern Italy during every rainy period due to the particular hydrogeological conditions of this area. Even if there are no casualties, the economic losses are often significant, and municipalities frequently do not have sufficient financial resources to repair the damage and stabilize all the unstable slopes. In this regard, the research for more economically sustainable solutions is a crucial challenge. Floating composite anchors are an innovative and low-cost technique set up for slope stabilization: it consists in the use of passive sub-horizontal reinforcements, obtained by coupling a traditional self-drilling bar with some tendons cemented inside it. This work concerns the application of this technique according to the observational method described within the Italian and European technical codes and mainly recommended for the design of geotechnical works, especially when performed in highly uncertain site conditions. The observational method prescribes designing an intervention and, at the same time, using a monitoring system in order to correct and adapt the project during realization of the works on the basis of new data acquired while on site. The case study is the landslide of Cischele, a medium landslide which occurred in 2010 after an exceptional heavy rainy period. In 2015, some floating composite anchors were installed to slow down the movement, even if, due to a limited budget, they were not enough to ensure the complete stabilization of the slope. Thanks to a monitoring system installed in the meantime, it is now possible to have a comparison between the site conditions before and after the intervention. This allows the evaluation of benefits achieved with the reinforcements and, at the same time, the assessment of additional improvements. Two stabilization scenarios are studied through an FE model: the first includes the stabilization system built in 2015, while the second evaluates a new solution proposed to further increase the slope stability.


2016 ◽  
Vol 162 (1) ◽  
pp. 313-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fangmin Hao ◽  
Ziliang Zhou ◽  
Mingde Wu ◽  
Guoqing Li

Viruses ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fangmin Hao ◽  
Mingde Wu ◽  
Guoqing Li

Here, we characterized a negative single-stranded (−ss)RNA mycovirus, Botrytis cinerea mymonavirus 1 (BcMyV1), isolated from the phytopathogenic fungus Botrytis cinerea. The genome of BcMyV1 is 7863 nt in length, possessing three open reading frames (ORF1–3). The ORF1 encodes a large polypeptide containing a conserved mononegaviral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) domain showing homology to the protein L of mymonaviruses, whereas the possible functions of the remaining two ORFs are still unknown. The internal cDNA sequence (10-7829) of BcMyV1 was 97.9% identical to the full-length cDNA sequence of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum negative stranded RNA virus 7 (SsNSRV7), a virus-like contig obtained from Sclerotinia sclerotiorum metatranscriptomes, indicating BcMyV1 should be a strain of SsNSRV7. Phylogenetic analysis based on RdRp domains showed that BcMyV1 was clustered with the viruses in the family Mymonaviridae, suggesting it is a member of Mymonaviridae. BcMyV1 may be widely distributed in regions where B. cinerea occurs in China and even over the world, although it infected only 0.8% of tested B. cinerea strains.


Planta ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 247 (5) ◽  
pp. 1217-1227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhangjian Hu ◽  
Shujun Shao ◽  
Chenfei Zheng ◽  
Zenghui Sun ◽  
Junying Shi ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Mengqi Jiang ◽  
Xi Xu ◽  
Jia Song ◽  
Dongmei Li ◽  
Liyuan Han ◽  
...  

The fungal pathogen Botrytis cinerea is the causal agent of devastating gray mold diseases in many economically important fruits, vegetables, and flowers, leading to serious economic losses worldwide. In this study, a novel actinomycete NEAU-LD23T exhibiting antifungal activity against B. cinerea was isolated, and its taxonomic position was evaluated using a polyphasic approach. Based on the genotypic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic data, it is concluded that the strain represents a novel species within the genus Streptomyces , for which the name Streptomyces botrytidirepellens sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is NEAU-LD23T (=CCTCC AA 2019029T=DSM 109824T). In addition, strain NEAU-LD23T showed a strong antagonistic effect against B. cinerea (82.6±2.5%) and varying degrees of inhibition on nine other phytopathogenic fungi. Both cell-free filtrate and methanol extract of mycelia of strain NEAU-LD23T significantly inhibited mycelial growth of B. cinerea. To preliminarily explore the antifungal mechanisms, the genome of strain NEAU-LD23T was sequenced and analyzed. AntiSMASH analysis led to the identification of several gene clusters responsible for the biosynthesis of bioactive secondary metabolites with antifungal activity, including 9-methylstreptimidone, echosides, anisomycin, coelichelin and desferrioxamine B. Overall, this research provided us an excellent strain with considerable potential to use for biological control of tomato gray mold.


2021 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-42
Author(s):  
Alberto Enrique Oliveira Tulli ◽  
Everton Kodama ◽  
Ellen Patricia de Souza ◽  
Paulo Eduardo Degrande ◽  
Adolpho Vaz de Lima Filho ◽  
...  

Abstract This study investigated (a) the intraplant distribution of Euschistus heros (F.) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) in cotton, (b) its preference for different structures and areas of the cotton plant, and (c) the damage caused at different levels of infestation. Our results determined that, regardless of the time of day, E. heros adults significantly preferred the middle third of cotton plants in comparison to the upper and lower areas (F = 30.221; df = 2; P = 0.001). The adults were present on all cotton structures, and numbers were significantly higher on bolls and leaves/branches (F = 25.333; df = 5; P = 0.001) than on flower buds and flowers. In greenhouse tests, fiber yield, number of bolls per plant, and number of internal punctures in bolls responded significantly to increasing infestation levels of E. heros adults. Damage and yield reduction was observed at 1.5 to 2.0 adults/plant, indicating that an action threshold of 1 adult per plant should be adopted to avoid economic losses. Sampling during boll development should be by either whole-plant inspection or beat cloth methods between 0600 and 1800 h.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document