Nematicidal and Plant Growth-Promoting Activity of Enterobacter asburiae HK169: Genome Analysis Provides Insight into Its Biological Activities

• Published in: Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol. 28; no. 6; pp. 968 - 975
• Main Authors: Oh, Mira, Han, Jae Woo, Lee, Chanhui, Choi, Gyung Ja, Kim, Hun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea (South) 한국미생물·생명공학회 28.06.2018
• Subjects: 생물학; Meloidogyne incognita; Enterobacter asburiae; plant growth promotion; genome analysis; biocontrol agent
• ISSN: 1017-7825; 1738-8872
• DOI: 10.4014/jmb.1801.01021

In the course of screening for microbes with nematicidal activity, we found that HK169 displayed promising nematicidal activity against the root-knot nematode , along with plant growth-promoting properties. Soil drenching of a culture of HK169 reduced gall formation by 66% while also increasing root and shoot weights by 251% and 160%, respectively, compared with an untreated control. The cell-free culture filtrate of the HK169 culture killed all juveniles of within 48 h. In addition, the nematicidal activity of the culture filtrate was dramatically reduced by a protease inhibitor, suggesting that proteolytic enzymes contribute to the nematicidal activity of HK169. In order to obtain genomic information about the HK169 isolate related to its nematicidal and plant growth-promoting activities, we sequenced and analyzed the whole genome of the HK169 isolate, and the resulting information provided evidence that the HK169 isolate has nematicidal and plant growth-promoting activities. Taken together, these observations enable the future application of HK169 as a biocontrol agent for nematode control and promote our understanding of the beneficial interactions between HK169 and plants.