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AIM: To understand how beneficial bacteria assist chilli plants (Capsicum annuum) in defence against biotrophic or hemibiotrophic pathogens. METHOD AND RESULTS: We quantified marker genes of plant defence pathways in Phytophthora capsici-infected chilli pepper treated with anti-oomycete plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Bacillus velezensis and Acinetobacter sp. Plants displayed strong resistance, and the pathogen load in the roots was significantly lower in infected plants treated with bacterial biocontrol agents at all time points tested (1, 2 and 7 days after pathogen inoculation, p < 0.05). Gene expression profiling revealed that P. capsici infection in the absence of beneficial bacteria led to the upregulation of a wide array of defence genes. The addition of biocontrol bacteria modulated defence by further enhancing genes involved in programmed cell death, such as CaLOX1, CaPAL1, CaChitIV and CaPTI1, while suppressing others CaLRR1, a negative regulator of cell death. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the bacteria exerted a combined effect by directly antagonizing the pathogen and enhancing the expression of key plant defence genes, including those involved in cell death, causing resistance at early stages of infection by this hemibiotrophic pathogen.

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High-yielding microalgae present an important commodity to sustainably satisfy burgeoning food, feed and biofuel demands. Because algae-associated bacteria can significantly enhance or reduce yields, we isolated, identified and selected highly-effective "probiotic" bacterial strains associated with Nannochloropsis oceanica, a high-yielding microalga rich in eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). Xenic algae growth was significantly enhanced by co-cultivation with ten isolated bacteria that improved culture density and biomass by 2.2- and 1.56-fold, respectively (1.39 × 108 cells mL-1; 0.82 g L-1). EPA contents increased up to 2.25-fold (to 39.68% of total fatty acids). Added probiotic bacteria possessed multiple growth-stimulating characteristics, including atmospheric nitrogen fixation, growth hormone production and phosphorous solubilization. Core N. oceanica-dominant bacterial microbiomes at different cultivation scales included Sphingobacteria, Flavobacteria (Bacteroidetes), and α, γ-Proteobacteria, and added probiotic bacteria could be maintained. We conclude that the supplementation with probiotic algae-associated bacteria can significantly enhance biomass and EPA production of N. oceanica.

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Nannochloropsis oceanica strains BR2 and KB1 are microalgal isolates from brackish water in the Brisbane River and a coastal rock pool at the Sunshine Coast in Australia which display superior productivity at high temperatures. We used long-read sequencing to sequence their genomes and to facilitate elucidation of loci associated with these traits.

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Achromobacter spanius UQ283 is a soilborne bacterium found to exhibit plant growth-promoting and disease-suppressing attributes in several plant species. Accordingly, we used long-read sequencing to determine its complete genome sequence. The assembled genome will aid in understanding the multifaceted interactions between plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, pathogens, and plants.

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Bacterial isolates obtained from the rhizosphere of Arabidopsis and a plantless compost potting mix was screened for anti-oomycete activity against Phytophthora capsici, Phytophthora citricola, Phytophthora palmivora, and Phytophthora cinnamomi. Three out of 48 isolates exhibited more than 65% inhibition against all tested Phytophthora species and were selected for further studies. These strains, named UQ154, UQ156, and UQ202, are closely related to Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Bacillus velezensis, and Acinetobacter sp., respectively, based on 16S rDNA sequence analysis. The isolates were evaluated for their ability to fix nitrogen, solubilize phosphate, as well as for siderophore, indoleacetic acid, cell wall degrading enzymes and biofilm production. Their plant growth promoting activities were evaluated by measuring their effect on the germination percentage, root and shoot length, and seedling vigor of lettuce plants. All of these traits were significantly enhanced in plants grown from seeds inoculated with the isolates compared with control plants. Moreover, bacteria-inoculated P. capsici-infected chili plants exhibited improved productivity based on CO2 assimilation rates. Both real-time quantitative PCR and disease severity index revealed significant decreases in pathogen load in infected chili root tissues when plants were previously inoculated with the isolates. Biocontrol activity may result from the secretion of diketopiperazines as identified by Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of bacterial cultures' extracts. Collectively, this work demonstrates the potential of bacterial isolates to control Phytophthora infection and promote plant growth. They can, therefore be considered as candidate microbial biofertilizers and biopesticides.

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To map out key lipid-related pathways that lead to rapid triacylglyceride accumulation in oleaginous microalgae, RNA-Seq was performed with Tetraselmis sp. M8 at 24h after exhaustion of exogenous nitrogen to reveal molecular changes during early stationary phase. Further gene expression profiling by quantitative real-time PCR at 16-72h revealed a distinct shift in expression of the fatty acid/triacylglyceride biosynthesis and ß-oxidation pathways, when cells transitioned from log-phase into early-stationary and stationary phase. Metabolic reconstruction modeling combined with real-time PCR and RNA-Seq gene expression data indicates that the increased lipid accumulation is a result of a decrease in lipid catabolism during the early-stationary phase combined with increased metabolic fluxes in lipid biosynthesis during the stationary phase. During these two stages, Tetraselmis shifts from reduced lipid consumption to active lipid production. This process appears to be independent from DGAT expression, a key gene for lipid accumulation in microalgae.

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