Aspergillus piperis a/5 from plum-distilling waste compost produces a complex of antifungal metabolites active against the phytopathogen pythium aphanidermatum

2016
Authors
Jovičić-Petrović, Jelena
Jeremić, Sanja

Vucković, Ivan

Vojnović, Sandra

Bulajić, Aleksandra

Raičević, Vera
Nikodinović-Runić, Jasmina

Article (Published version)
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Adding compost to soil can result in plant disease suppression through the mechanisms of antagonistic action of compost microflora against plant pathogens. The aim of the study was to select effective antagonists of Pythium aphanidermatum from compost, to assess the effect of its extracellular metabolites on the plant pathogen, and to characterize antifungal metabolites. The fungal isolate selected by a confrontation test was identified as Aspergillus piperis A/5 on the basis of morphological features and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, beta-tubulin and calmodulin partial sequences. Liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy (LC-MS) analysis showed that gluconic and citric acid were the most abundant in the organic culture extract. However, the main antifungal activity was contained in the aqueous phase remaining after the organic solvent extraction. The presence of considerable amounts of proteins in both the crude culture extract as well as the aqueous phase remaining afte...r solvent extraction was confirmed by SDS-PAGE. Isolated Aspergillus piperis A/ 5 exhibits strong antifungal activity against the phytopathogen Pythium aphanidermatum. It secretes a complex mixture of metabolites consisting of small molecules, including gluconic acid, citric acid and itaconic acid derivatives, but the most potent antifungal activity was associated with proteins resistant to heat and organic solvents. Our findings about the activity and characterization of antagonistic strain metabolites contribute to the understanding of the mechanism of interaction of antifungal metabolites as well as fungal-fungal interaction. The obtained results provide a basis for further application development in agriculture and food processing.
Keywords:
antifungal activity / antifungal proteins / Aspergillus piperis / organic acids / Pythium aphanidermatum / compostSource:
Archives of Biological Sciences, 2016, 68, 2, 279-289Publisher:
- Srpsko biološko društvo, Beograd, i dr.
Funding / projects:
- Advancing research in agricultural and food sciences at Faculty of Agriculture, University of Belgrade (EU-316004)
- Biodiversity as potential in ecoremediation technologies of degraded ecosystems (RS-31080)
- Microbial diversity study and characterization of beneficial environmental microorganisms (RS-173048)
DOI: 10.2298/ABS150602016J
ISSN: 0354-4664