Volatile organic compounds produced by the phytopathogenic bacterium Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria 85-10

• Published in: Beilstein journal of organic chemistry 2012-04, Vol.8 (1), p.579-596
• Main Authors: Weise, Teresa, Kai, Marco, Gummesson, Anja, Troeger, Armin, von Reuß, Stephan, Piepenborn, Silvia, Kosterka, Francine, Sklorz, Martin, Zimmermann, Ralf, Francke, Wittko, Piechulla, Birgit
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 10-methylundecan-2-one; Aspergillus nidulans; Chemistry; Full Research Paper; Fusarium solani; growth inhibition and promotion; methylketones; Rhizoctonia solani; volatile organic compound (VOC); Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria
• ISSN: 1860-5397; 1860-5397
• DOI: 10.3762/bjoc.8.65

Xanthomonas campestris is a phytopathogenic bacterium and causes many diseases of agricultural relevance. Volatiles were shown to be important in inter- and intraorganismic attraction and defense reactions. Recently it became apparent that also bacteria emit a plethora of volatiles, which influence other organisms such as invertebrates, plants and fungi. As a first step to study volatile-based bacterial-plant interactions, the emission profile of Xanthomonas c. pv. vesicatoria 85-10 was determined by using GC/MS and PTR-MS techniques. More than 50 compounds were emitted by this species, the majority comprising ketones and methylketones. The structure of the dominant compound, 10-methylundecan-2-one, was assigned on the basis of its analytical data, obtained by GC/MS and verified by comparison of these data with those of a synthetic reference sample. Application of commercially available decan-2-one, undecan-2-one, dodecan-2-one, and the newly synthesized 10-methylundecan-2-one in bi-partite Petri dish bioassays revealed growth promotions in low quantities (0.01 to 10 μmol), whereas decan-2-one at 100 μmol caused growth inhibitions of the fungus Rhizoctonia solani. Volatile emission profiles of the bacteria were different for growth on media (nutrient broth) with or without glucose.