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 language | English |
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Article number | 476 |
Journal | Marine Drugs |
Volume | 21 |
Issue number | 9 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 29 Aug 2023 |
Externally published | Yes |
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.
Funders | Funder number |
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Copia Agro Israel | |
European Cooperation in Science and Technology | CA18238 |
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development | 20-02-0122 |
Keywords
- 8-nonenoic acid
- aquaculture
- disease management
- endophyte
- macroalga
- secondary metabolite