title: Volatiles released by endophytic Pseudomonas fluorescens promoting the growth and volatile oil accumulation in Atractylodes lancea.
abstract: Atractylodes lancea is a well-known, but endangered, Chinese medicinal plant whose volatile oils are its main active components. As the volatile oil content in cultivated A. lancea is much lower than that in the wild herb, the application of microbes or related elicitors to promote growth and volatile oil accumulation in the cultivated herb is an important area of research. This study demonstrates that the endophytic bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens ALEB7B isolated from the geo-authentic A. lancea can release several nitrogenous volatiles, such as formamide and N,N-dimethyl-formamide, which significantly promote the growth of non-infected A. lancea. Moreover, the main bacterial volatile benzaldehyde significantly promotes volatile oil accumulation in non-infected A. lancea via activating plant defense responses. Notably, the bacterial nitrogenous volatiles cannot be detected in the A. lancea - Pseudomonas fluorescens symbiont while the benzaldehyde can be detected, indicating the nitrogenous volatiles or their precursors may have been consumed by the host plant. This study firstly demonstrates that the interaction between plant and endophytic bacterium is not limited to the commonly known physical contact, extending the ecological functions of endophyte in the phytosphere and deepening the understandings about the symbiotic interaction.
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Microbes and Functional Genomics, Jiangsu Engineering and Technology Research Center for Industrialization of Microbial Resources, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, 210023, China.
authors.forename: Jia-Yu
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu High Quality Rice Research and Development Center, Nanjing Branch of China National Center Rice Improvement, Institute of Food Crops, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, 210014, China.
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Microbes and Functional Genomics, Jiangsu Engineering and Technology Research Center for Industrialization of Microbial Resources, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, 210023, China.
authors.forename: Jiao-Yan
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Microbes and Functional Genomics, Jiangsu Engineering and Technology Research Center for Industrialization of Microbial Resources, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, 210023, China. Electronic address: daichuanchao@njnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Chuan-Chao
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Dai
mesh_terms: D031174:Atractylodes / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000382:microbiology*; D001547:Benzaldehydes / Q000378:metabolism*; D009822:Oils, Volatile / Q000378:metabolism*; D011551:Pseudomonas fluorescens / Q000378:metabolism*; D013559:Symbiosis / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D001547:Benzaldehydes; D009822:Oils, Volatile; C032175:benzaldehyde
keywords: Atractylodes lancea; Bacterial volatiles; Endophytic bacterium; Non-contact co-culture; Plant growth promotion; Pseudomonas fluorescens; Volatile oil accumulation