Mikrobiol. Z. 2019; 81(1):22-33.
doi: https://doi.org/10.15407/microbiolj81.01.022

Effect of Lactobacillus plantarum on Survival of Crown Gall Agent and Tumour Formation

Limanska N.V., Galkin M.B., Ivanytsia V.O.

Odesa Mechnikov National University
2 Dvorianska Str., Odesa, 65082, Ukraine

Aim. To study the effect of Lactobacillus plantarum on formation of tumours and survival of Agrobacterium tumefaciens pJZ on surfaces and in tissues of plants. Methods. Test-plants carrots Daucus carota L. cv Carotel, kalanchoe Kalanchoe daigremontiana Raym.-Hamet., tomatoes Solanum lycopersicum L. cv Ballada, grape Vitis vinifera L. cv Pinot noir and Moldova were inoculated with phytopathogenic A. tumefaciens pJZ expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) and L. plantarum (L. plantarum ONU 12, ONU 311, ONU 355) in a ratio 1:1. Presence of GFP-labelled A. tumefaciens pJZ cells in inoculation sites was detected by epifluorescent microscopy. Results. If inoculates contained lactobacilli, amount of plants with crown gall symptoms decreased in 85–100%. Mean weight of tumours decreased 2–12 times comparing with a control. Microscopy of tissues of symptomless plants showed that in case of treatment with lactobacilli pathogenic agrobacteria survived in 100% of carrots and grapes, 30% of tomatoes, but their populations were smaller than in positive controls inoculated only with phytopathogen and did not cause tumours. Inoculation of grape with a mixture of phytopathogen and lactobacilli resulted in stimulation of plant growth – amount of buds that grew increased in 25.8%, mean length of stems – in 28.3%, mean area of leaves – in 8.6%, that could be hypothesized as an overproduction of plant hormones as a result of possible transformation of plant tissues. Conclusions. Antagonistic L. plantarum could suppress attachment and survival of phytopathogenic A. tumefaciens pJZ on surfaces and in tissues of test-plants eliminating population of the pathogen or decreasing its density with the probable attenuation of pathogenic properties, the mechanism of which needs further investigations.

Keywords: Lactobacillus plantarum, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, survival, antagonism, crown gall, symptomless plants.

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