Journal
BMC MICROBIOLOGY
Volume 13, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
BMC
DOI: 10.1186/1471-2180-13-299
Keywords
Bursaphelenchus xylophilus; Catalase; Oxidative stress; Pine wilt disease
Categories
Funding
- Chubu Science and Technology Center fellowship
- Heiwa Nakajima Foundation
- EU [FP7-KBBE-2010-4]
- Portuguese national scientific Portuguese national scientific agency FCT (Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia)project [PTDC/BIA-MIC/3768/2012, FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-028368]
- FEDER Funds through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness Factors - COMPETE
- National Funds through FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology [PEst-C/AGR/UI0115/2011]
- Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia [PTDC/BIA-MIC/3768/2012] Funding Source: FCT
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Background: Pine wilt disease (PWD) caused by the pinewood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus is one of the most serious forest diseases in the world. The role of B. xylophilus-associated bacteria in PWD and their interaction with the nematode, have recently been under substantial investigation. Several studies report a potential contribution of the bacteria for the PWD development, either as a helper to enhance the pathogenicity of the nematode or as a pathogenic agent expressing interesting traits related to lifestyle host-adaptation. Results: We investigated the nematode-bacteria interaction under a severe oxidative stress (OS) condition using a pro-oxidant hydrogen peroxide and explored the adhesion ability of these bacteria to the cuticle surface of the nematodes. Our results clearly demonstrated a beneficial effect of the Serratia spp. (isolates LCN-4, LCN-16 and PWN-146) to B. xylophilus under the OS condition. Serratia spp. was found to be extremely OS-resistant, and promote survival of B. xylophilus and down-regulate two B. xylophilus catalase genes (Bxy-ctl-1 and Bxy-ctl-2). In addition, we show that the virulent isolate (Ka4) of B. xylophilus survives better than the avirulent (C14-5) isolate under the OS condition. The bacterial effect was transverse for both B. xylophilus isolates. We could not observe a strong and specific adhesion of these bacteria on the B. xylophilus cuticle surface. Conclusions: We report, for the first time, that B. xylophilus associated bacteria may assist the nematode opportunistically in the disease, and that a virulent B. xylophilus isolate displayed a higher tolerance towards the OS conditions than an avirulent isolate.
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