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| Author(s): | Isaacson P.J., Webster J.M. |
| Year: | 1998 |
| Title: | Broad spectrum antimycotic activity from in vitro cultures of the bacterial symbiont of Steinernema riobrave |
| Citation: | Journal of Nematology. 30:(4) 201. Abstract of the Society of Nematology 1998 Annual Meeting. |
Abstract:
The symbiotic bacteria of entomopathogenic nematodes are known to produce a number of metabolites that prevent secondary invasion of the nematode-infected insect cadaver by microorganisms and allow the bacteria and nematodes to grow optimally. Xenorhabdus sp. from Steinernema riobrave produces such metabolites. When tested against a series of agriculturally important fungi on agar diffusion plate assays, the cell-free culture broth completely inhibited the growth of many plant pathogens including Botrytis cinerea, Pythium ultimum and Rhizoctonia solani. Further characterization of this activity involved separating the whole broth into a water-soluble fraction and an organic solvent-soluble fraction. The water-soluble fraction showed the greater antimicrobial activity of the two when tested in petri dishes seeded with either Bacillus subtilis or Botrytis cinerea. Further analysis of this aqueous fraction showed that much of this activity was a result of extracellular proteins produced by the bacterial symbiont and of these, two enzymes, chitinase and glucanase, show significant antimycotic activity |
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