Unraveling the Chemical Dialogue: The Impact of Volatiles on the Interaction Between PGPR and Verticillium dahliae in Pepper Plants.
Triantafyllou Aikaterini A, Kamou Nathalie N, Mellidou Ifigeneia I, Testempasis Stefanos S et al.
Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) have attracted increasing scientific interest due to their potential to enhance crop productivity and alleviate plant stress. An important trait of PGPR is the production of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which can play crucial roles in plant-microbe and interspecies communication. This study investigates the volatilome composition of a novel PGP strain, Chryseobacterium sp. SAESo14, and its impact during interactions with the soilborne pathogen Verticillium dahliae and pepper plants. First, volatiles from SAESo14 and V. dahliae co-inoculated in dual cultures were analyzed by Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A diverse set of VOCs, including alcohols, ketones, esters, and sulfur-containing compounds, was detected. Among these, VOCs with known antifungal activity, such as 2-heptanone, ethyl propionate, and ethyl acetate, were identified. To further investigate the role of VOCs in tripartite interactions, volatilomes of a pepper-V. dahliae pathosystem treated with SAESo14 were analyzed. Seedlings treated with SAESo14 showed viable root cells and enhanced terpenoid metabolism, leading to the emission of 1,8-cineole, β-elemene, and sclarene, whereas V. dahliae-inoculated seedlings released 4,5-di-epi-aristolochene. When tested in planta, pepper plants treated with SAESo14 exhibited increased net photosynthesis and improved growth, along with a 25% reduction in disease index compared to pathogen-inoculated plants, in which distinct metabolic and transcriptomic reprogramming was observed. Collectively, these findings highlight the importance of VOC-mediated signaling in plant-microbe-pathogen interactions in a tripartite system and support the potential of a novel Chryseobacterium strain and its derived VOCs as sustainable alternatives for improving plant performance and disease management.