BioControl (2011) 56, 113-121

Shuai Wang, Huijun Wu, Jiang Zhan, Yanfei Xia, Shengfeng Gao, Weiduo Wang, Pengqi Xue and Xuewen Gao (2011)
The role of synergistic action and molecular mechanism in the effect of genetically engineered strain Bacillus subtilis OKBHF in enhancing tomato growth and Cucumber mosaic virus resistance
BioControl 56 (1), 113-121
Abstract: Bacillus subtilis is well known for its biocontrol activity against several plant pathogens and for its role in promoting plant growth. HpaG_Xooc, from rice pathogenic bacterium Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzicola, is a member of the harpin group of proteins. It is known to elicit hypersensitive cell death in non-host plants, thereby inducing disease and insect resistance in the plants and enhancing plant growth. In our previous experiment, we constructed a genetically engineered strain-B. subtilis OKBHF-through the introduction of the gene encoding HpaG_Xooc into B. subtilis OKB105 in order to combine the effects of HpaG_Xooc and wild-type PGPR in improving the plant growth rate and for biological control. In this study, we evaluated the use of treating the tomato plant with B. subtilis OKBHF. The results of greenhouse experiments demonstrated that OKBHF treatment had a significant effect on increasing the height, fresh weight, and flower and fruit number and obviously lowered the disease severity of Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) infection at 28 days postinoculation (dpi). Subsequent reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis revealed the molecular mechanisms of HpaG_Xooc and B. subtilis in the tomato plant, suggesting their synergistic roles in inducing enhanced expression of three expansin genes LeEXP2, LeEXP5, and LeEXP18, which regulate plant cell growth, and two defense-related genes Pti4 and Pti6, which activate the expression of a wide array of PR genes and one defense gene, PR-1a.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
resistance/tolerance/defence of host
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
genetical engin./transgenic plants

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Cucumber mosaic virus	Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)
Bacillus subtilis (antagonist)	Cucumber mosaic virus	Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)