Efficient applications of bacterial secondary metabolites for management of biotic stress in plants

Abstract

Bacterial secondary metabolites (B-SMs) are low molecular weight (< 2.5 KDa) compounds that are produced by bacteria but are not required for their growth or replication. Instead, they are produced to give the organism a selective advantage. They are produced during the stationary/idio phase of the bacterial growth cycle by the gene clusters usually known as biological gene clusters (BGCs) which produce a variety of bioactive substances that boosts plant health directly or indirectly by providing several elements like antibiotics, degradative enzymes, siderophores and etc. These amalgams mainly cover phospholipids, peptides, polypeptides, quinols, polyketides, alkaloids, polyenes, phenazines, volatiles, amino-sugars, macro-lactones and aminoglycosides. B-SMs are widely used as antifungal, antibacterial, antiviral, antitumor and anti-algal bioactive components because of their effective defence against a variety of plant diseases, manage biotic stress, and ability to trigger host response. This review provides insight into a variety of important B-SMs characteristics, including their production, classification based on SMs, and use as defence molecules against pathogen and biotic stress to sustain the plant growth.

Keywords

• Bacterial secondary metabolites (B-SMs)
• Plant disease stress management
• Biocontrol
• Plant health
• PGPR
• Phytopathogens