Kocuria flava, a Bacterial Endophyte of the Marine Macroalga Bryopsis plumosa, Emits 8-Nonenoic Acid Which Inhibits the Aquaculture Pathogen Saprolegnia parasitica

Ynon Deutsch, Mohamed Samara, Ahmed Nasser, Ilana Berman-Frank, David Ezra

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Secondary metabolites—organic compounds that are often bioactive—produced by endophytes, among others, provide a selective advantage by increasing the organism’s survivability. Secondary metabolites mediate the symbiotic relationship between endophytes and their host, potentially providing the host with tolerance to, and protection against biotic and abiotic stressors. Secondary metabolites can be secreted as a dissolved substance or emitted as a volatile. In a previous study, we isolated bioactive endophytes from several macroalgae and tested them in vitro for their ability to inhibit major disease-causing pathogens of aquatic animals in the aquaculture industry. One endophyte (isolate Abp5, K. flava) inhibited and killed, in vitro, the pathogen Saprolegnia parasitica, an oomycete that causes saprolegniasis—a disease affecting a wide range of aquatic animals. Here, using analytical chemistry tools, we found that Abp5 produces the volatile organic compound (VOC) 8-nonenoic acid. Once we confirmed the production of this compound by the endophyte, we tested the compound’s ability to treat S. parasitica in in vitro and in vivo bioassays. In the latter, we found that 5 mg/L of the compound improves the survival of larvae challenged with S. parasitica by 54.5%. Our isolation and characterization of the VOC emitted by the endophytic K. flava establish the groundwork for future studies of endophytic biocontrol agents from macroalgae. Use of this compound could enable managing oomycete agricultural pathogens in general, and S. parasitica in particular, a major causal agent in aquaculture diseases.

Original languageEnglish
Article number476
JournalMarine Drugs
Volume21
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - 29 Aug 2023
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the authors.

Funding

This work is part of COST Action CA18238 (Ocean4Biotech), supported by the COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) program. This work was supported by a grant from the Chief Scientist of the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture (grant # 20-02-0122) and Copia Agro Israel.

FundersFunder number
Copia Agro Israel
European Cooperation in Science and TechnologyCA18238
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development20-02-0122

    Keywords

    • 8-nonenoic acid
    • aquaculture
    • disease management
    • endophyte
    • macroalga
    • secondary metabolite

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