Bacteria inhibits growth of plant pathogenic fungus by histone alteration.

http://fungi.myspecies.info/all-fungi/fusarium-graminearum

In a recent study titled “Wheat microbiome bacteria can reduce virulence of a plant pathogenic fungus by altering histone acetylation” published by Nature Communications, researchers from the Institute of Biotechnology, Zhejiang University in China have isolated and identified a bacterium that possess inhibitory properties on the growth of a plant pathogenic fungus.

Plant pathogenic fungi are well known for causing certain plant diseases. These diseases result in huge economic losses as crop yield may go down when the disease is not controlled. The control of such diseases poses a burden of costs for fungicides and other control measures of which some farmers may not manage. However, nature always has hidden solutions to our problems. In nature, the interaction between fungi and bacteria can bring negative or positive results to themselves or the environment they on. The interactions can be mutual, competitive or antagonistic and it is with the study such interactions that have led to discovery and developments of antibiotics and fungicides.

Interactions of plant microbiome usually result in regulation of plant physiology and regulation. According to the study, scientists studied the microbiome of wheat. They specifically studied the interaction between bacterium Pseudomonas piscium and pathogenic fungus Fusarium graminearum. The fungus F. graminearum causes a devastating disease called Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) in wheat and other cereal crops. It also contaminates grains with mycotoxins. The study found out that P. piscium inhibits the growth of F. graminearum.

Molecular analysis revealed that the bacterium produces a compound called phenazine-1-carboxamide which has an impact on the activity of histone acetyltransferase in the fungus. The compound causes downregulation of histone acetylation at H2BK11, H3K14, H3K18, and H3K27 in F. graminearum. This altered histone modification, therefore, results in inhibited growth and virulence of the fungus. Also, the biosynthesis of mycotoxins is lowered hence resulting in low contamination of wheat grains.

Read the full paper here: https://rdcu.be/5cnj

Reference

Yun Chen, Jing Wang, Nan Yang, Ziyue Wen, Xuepeng Sun, Yunrong Chai & Zhonghua Ma. Wheat microbiome bacteria can reduce virulence of a plant pathogenic fungus by altering histone acetylation. Nature Communications, (2018) 9: 3429. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-05683-7