Characterization and genomic insight of surfactin-producing Bacillus velezensis and its biocontrol potential against pathogenic contamination in lettuce hydroponics

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2023 Nov 11. doi: 10.1007/s11356-023-30871-4. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTDue to food borne pathogen, maintaining the viability of fresh fruits and vegetable is a great concern. Several strategies including microbial and plant-based formulations to reduce their infection and maintain quality of the fresh food are in practice. Currently, Bacillus has gained significant traction as a biocontrol agent for regulating diseases affecting a variety of agricultural and horticultural crops. Food-grade citric acid and plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) were used as antimicrobial agent, MIC results showed that PGPR (14.87 mm) and CA (20.25 mm) exhibited notable antimicrobial activity against E. coli. Lettuce treated with PGPR showed reduction in E. coli contamination, E. coli was detected at 3.30, 3.68 in control, and 2.7 log CFU/g in random root injury lettuce inoculated with PGPR KACC 21110 respectively. Random root injury showed a trend toward increasing E. coli internalization. The strains exhibited resistance to multiple antibiotics, including Imipenem, tetracycline, ampicillin, cefotaxime, cefoxitin, and ceftriaxone. Comprehensive data analysis revealed the presence of ten putative bacteriocin or bacteriocin-like gene clusters. The structure of lipopeptide homologs was characterized by using QTOF-MS/MS. The mass ion peaks attributed to surfactin homologs, surfactin A ion at m/z 1008.66, surfactin B, C at m/z 1022.67 and 1036.69. In addition t...
Source: Environmental Science and Pollution Research International - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Source Type: research