| Summary: | Abstract Background Plant immune responses can be induced by plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPRs), but the exact compounds that induce resistance are poorly understood. Here, we identified the novel natural elicitor 3,4-dihydroxy-3-methyl-2-pentanone from the PGPR Bacillus subtilis HN09, which dominates HN09-induced systemic resistance (ISR). Results The HN09 strain, as a rhizobacterium that promotes plant growth, can induce systemic resistance of Arabidopsis thaliana plants against Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000, and the underlying role of its metabolite 3,4-dihydroxy-3-methyl-2-pentanone in this induced resistance mechanism was explored in this study. The stereoisomers of 3,4-dihydroxy-3-methyl-2-pentanone exhibited differential bioactivity of resistance induction in A. thaliana. B16, a 1:1 mixture of the threo-isomers (3R,4S) and (3S,4R), was significantly superior to B17, a similar mixture of the erythro-isomers (3R,4R) and (3S,4S). Moreover, B16 induced more expeditious and stronger callose deposition than B17 when challenged with the pathogen DC3000. RT-qPCR and RNA-seq results showed that B16 and B17 induced systemic resistance via JA/ET and SA signalling pathways. B16 and B17 activated different but overlapping signalling pathways, and these compounds have the same chemical structure but subtle differences in stereo configuration. Conclusions Our results indicate that 3,4-dihydroxy-3-methyl-2-pentanone is an excellent immune elicitor in plants. This compound is of great importance to the systemic resistance induced by HN09. Its threo-isomers (3R,4S) and (3S,4R) are much better than erythro-isomers (3R,4R) and (3S,4S). This process involves SA and JA/ET signalling pathways.
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