ArticlePlant physiology2004
Biocontrol of Bacillus subtilis against infection of Arabidopsis roots by Pseudomonas syringae is facilitated by biofilm formation and surfactin production.
Article in Plant physiology, 2004. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 316 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
316 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 1,013 citations in OpenAlex.
- Bacillus species as tools for biocontrol of plant diseases: A meta-analysis of twenty-two years of research, 2000-2021.World journal of microbiology & biotechnology · 2024Pooled it
- Secondary Metabolite Biosynthesis and Regulatory Role of Sucrose inMicroorganisms · 2026Review
- Towards an Omics-Guided Framework for Microbial Biological Control of Fungal and Oomycete Diseases inInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Synthetic microbial communities for studying the fate and ecological role of specialized metabolites.Essays in biochemistry · 2026Review
- Surfactin-like lipopeptides contribute to interference competition of Bacillus velezensis against the marine Flavobacteriaceae in phycosphere.Environmental microbiome · 2026Article
- When neighbors control metabolite fate: consequences for plant pathogen virulence and biocontrol outcomes.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2026Article
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- Kaempferol drives genotype-specific microbiota Bacillaceae to enhance nitrogen acquisition in rapeseed.Journal of advanced research · 2026Article
- Bacillus strains from Tunisian Sabkhas as promising biocontrol agents for several plant diseases in the Mediterranean.BMC microbiology · 2026Article
- Article
- Review
- A Biofilm-StateMicroorganisms · 2026Article
- Phytochemical characterisation and antifungal activities of five botanicals used by subsistence farmers to manage plant diseases.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Diverse rhizospheric Bacillus are required for protection against a leaf pathogen.The ISME journal · 2026Article
- Microbial biodiversity in Tunisian olive grove soils: a reservoir of phytopathogenic fungi and potential beneficial microorganisms.Frontiers in fungal biology · 2026Article
- Nano-enabled microbial bioinputs for sustainable agriculture: advances, mechanisms, applications, and future challenges.Frontiers in plant science · 2026Review
- Surface materials and biofilm formation affect tropodithietic acid biosynthesis gene expression inSustainable microbiology · 2026Article
- Dissecting the role ofFrontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- A γ-polyglutamic acid-based artificial biofilm for field delivery of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens KNU-28: an uncontrolled multi-orchard demonstration on peach gummosis with exploratory bark fungal community profiling.Frontiers in plant science · 2026Article
- The Mechanisms ofMicroorganisms · 2025Review
256 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Relatively little is known about the exact mechanisms used by Bacillus subtilis in its behavior as a biocontrol agent on plants. Here, we report the development of a sensitive plant infection model demonstrating that the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv tomato DC3000 is capable of infecting Arabidopsis roots both in vitro and in soil. Using this infection model, we demonstrated the biocontrol ability of a wild-type B. subtilis strain 6051 against P. syringae. Arabidopsis root surfaces treated with B. subtilis were analyzed with confocal scanning laser microscopy to reveal a three-dimensional B. subtilis biofilm. It is known that formation of biofilms by B. subtilis is a complex process that includes secretion of surfactin, a lipopeptide antimicrobial agent. To determine the role of surfactin in biocontrol by B. subtilis, we tested a mutant strain, M1, with a deletion in a surfactin synthase gene and, thus, deficient in surfactin production. B. subtilis M1 was ineffective as a biocontrol agent against P. syringae infectivity in Arabidopsis and also failed to form robust biofilms on either roots or inert surfaces. The antibacterial activity of surfactin against P. syringae was determined in both broth and agar cultures and also by live-dead staining methods. Although the minimum inhibitory concentrations determined were relatively high (25 microg mL(-1)), the levels of the lipopeptide in roots colonized by B. subtilis are likely to be sufficient to kill P. syringae. Our results collectively indicate that upon root colonization, B. subtilis 6051 forms a stable, extensive biofilm and secretes surfactin, which act together to protect plants against attack by pathogenic bacteria.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.