TREE Fund

Tree Research & Education Endowment Fund

2014 General Grant Archive Jack Kimmel International Grant 

Screening of actinobacteria for activities that protect trees against bacterial and fungal diseases

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2014 | Oleksandr Gromyko, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Ukraine

Bacterial and fungal diseases affect virtually every tree species and are a significant economic problem. Isolation of natural bacteria capable of interfering with growth of tree pathogens is a first step towards development of sustainable strategies to solve the aforementioned problem. Here we propose to screen the collection of actinobacteria (created at the Department of Genetics and Bioechnology of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (DGB-IFNUL), Ukraine) against six of the most notorious pathogens. They include four bacterial strains (Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Erwinia amylovora, Pseudomonas syringae, Xanthomonas campestris) and two fungal ones (Fusarium oxysporum and Botrytis cinerea). As a result of the project there will be several isolated strains able to suppress growth of aforementioned pathogens and to promote plant growth through the production of various bioactive molecules and enzymes.

Study Results

Infectious diseases caused by bacteria and fungi are a big problem for arboriculture. Soil bacteria of order Streptomycetales (streptomycetes, or actinomycetes) offer a natural solution to these problems, as they could supress the growth of pathogens and to promote plant growth. Current selection of bacteria capable of accomplishing such tasks is very limited; it was the aim of this study to identify novel streptomycetes that could inspire new approaches to protect and groom urban trees. We have screened 2956 actinomycete isolates against a number of bacterial and fungal pathogens, and revealed 16 that exhibited potent antibiotic action as well as enzymatic activities associated with plant growth-promoting properties (PGP). Our isolates included those that interfered with growth of only one species (so called narrow activity), as well as streptomycetes that kill all kinds of bacterial and fungal pathogens being tested (broad spectrum activity). Of these 16 strains, four species stand out because of their strong antibiotic production under different cultivation conditions and salient PGP. Particularly, two strains, 39-42 and 20–58, suppressed the growth of all phytopathogens being tested. One strain, 1-332, displayed strictly antibacterial activity. We suggest that these four streptomycete strains represent a promising platform for development of biotechnological tools to alleviate the burden of microbial diseases in arboriculture.

Year: 2014

Funding Duration: 1-3 years

Grant Program: Jack Kimmel International Grant

Grant Title: Screening of actinobacteria for activities that protect trees against bacterial and fungal diseases

Researcher: Oleksandr Gromyko

Key words:

Peer Reviewed Publications from Grant:

General Audience/Trade Publications:

Conference Theses:

  • Vasylenko A., Hrubsky Y., Tistechok S., Fedorenko V., Gromyko O. Biotechnical Potential evaluation of actinobacteria from Phyllostachys viridi-Glaucescens (CARR.) A. Et C.RIVIERE rhizosphere from the protaction and promotion of plant growth // XII Inter. Scientific Conf. fron students and PhD Students “Youth and progress of biology”, Lviv, April 19-21, 2016. – P. 140-141.
  • Chornobai V., Hrubskyy Y., Tistechok S.I., Fedorenko V., Gromyko O. Properties of actinobacteria from Potentilla depressa Willd. Ex SCH LTDL. rhizosphere and their biotechnological potential // XIII Conf. of Young Scientists “Scientific, applied and educational aspects of physiology, genetics, plant biotechnology and microorganisms”, Kyiv, May 19-20, 2016, P. 80-81.

Presentations:

For more information on this project, contact the researcher via TREE Fund at treefund@treefund.org.