Investigation of the Ecological Relevant Bioactivity of the Cyclic Depsipeptide FR900359

Natural products are specialized metabolites, that show unique and specific biological effects under laboratory conditions. The significance of these effects in the ecosystem is in many cases not further investigated.

FR900359 (FR) is a complex non-ribosomal peptide and a potent and specific inhibitor of Gα_q proteins, important signal transducers in eukaryotes [1]. FR was first isolated from the leaves of the plant Ardisia crenata, and later found to be produced by the unculturable endosymbiont Candidatus Burkholderia crenata living in the nodules of the leave margin. We verified that FR, produced only in the margin of the leaves, has an insecticidal effect, and may thus protect the plant from insect feeding [2]. We recently discovered a cultivable soil bacterium, Chromobacterium vaccinii, harbouring the FR gene cluster which is produced under laboratory conditions.

In this work the ecological relevance of FR produced by C. vaccinii is further investigated. Therefore, we tested FR on a plant pathogenic cyst nematode and provided evidence for its influence on the hatching of the nematode. As soil bacteria play an important role for plant health, deciphering the mechanisms leading to the protection of the plant may present new options for agriculture.

The authors declare no conflict of interest. We thank the DFG (FOR 2372 grants KO 902/17-1 and 17-2 to G.M.K.) and the DBU (Ph.D. scholarship 20018/568 to W.H.) for funding. P.G. has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 727715

Publikationsverlauf

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
13. Dezember 2021

• References

• 1 Schrage R.. et al. 2015; Nature Communications 6 (10156): 1-17
• 2 Crüsemann M.. et al. 2018; Angewandte Chemie International Edition 57: 836-840