Biocontrol and Pathogenicity in Pseudomonas asplenii group

Bishnu Marahatta (PhD researcher)

Pseudomonas asplenii group consists of numerous bacteria showing varying characteristics. P. fuscovaginae is known to cause sheath blight in rice, while some others have demonstrated their ability to suppress numerous soil-borne plant diseases. Type six secretion system (T6SS) is a proteinaceous weapon system found in numerous Gram-negative bacteria that can inject toxins or effectors into the surrounding cells for their benefit. Similarly, the Type three secretion system (T3SS) is a macromolecular structure resembling flagella devised by many Gram-negative bacteria to translocate effectors into eukaryotic cells. These structures are known to possess several functions, however their role in biocontrol has not yet been fully studied. Gene mining has shown that within P. asplenii group, there is a wide variation in biosynthetic gene clusters encoding for different cyclic lipopeptides, siderophores lytic enzymes, and specialized nanomachines like T3SS and T6SS. My research focuses on investigating the function and mechanisms of these gene clusters in pathogenicity and biocontrol against different plant pathogens.