Inhibition of broomrape germination by 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol produced by environmental Pseudomonas

Abstract

Phloroglucinol compounds (PGCs) produced by environmental Pseudomonas are well known for their capacity to limit plant-pathogen infection. Although PGCs and more specifically 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol (DAPG) are well studied for their antimicrobial properties, they are to some extent toxic for crop plants. Parasitic weeds such as broomrapes (Phelipanche ramosa and Orobanche cumana) cause severe damage to crops and their development must be controlled. Here, we assessed the potential herbicidal effect of the bacterial model Pseudomonas ogarae F113, a PGCs-producing bacterium, on parasitic weed germination. We show using a mutagenesis approach that PGCs produced in bacterial supernatants are the main determinant inhibiting the germination of broomrapes. The use of individual or cocktails of pure PGCs revealed that the inhibition of the germination depends on the PGCs molecular structure and their concentrations as well as the broomrape species and pathovars. Furthermore, the inhibition caused by the PGCs is irreversible, causing a brown coloration of the broomrape seeds. Then, we evaluated in non-sterile soils the ability of bacterial inoculants or chemical DAPG to limit the infection of broomrapes on oil seed rape. Only the inoculation of PGCs-producing bacteria limited the infection of P. ramosa. Moreover, elemental profiling analysis of oil seed rape revealed that neither the inoculant nor applied DAPG affected the nutrition capacity of the oil seed rape. Our study expands the knowledge on the role that these multi-talented plant-beneficial Pseudomonas play in the environment and open new avenues for the development of natural bioherbicides to ward off parasitic plant infection.