peer reviewed | The persistence of pathogenic Agrobacterium strains as soil-associated saprophytes may cause an inconsistency in the efficacy of the biocontrol inoculants under field condition. The study of the interaction occurring in the rhizosphere between the beneficial and the pathogenic microbes is thus interesting for the development of effective biopesticides for the management of crown gall disease. However, very little is still known about the influence of these complex interactions on the biocontrol determinants of beneficial bacteria, especially Bacillus strains. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the soil borne pathogen Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58 on root colonization and lipopeptide production by Bacillus velezensis strain 32a during interaction with tomato plants. Results show that the presence of A. tumefaciens C58 positively impacted the root colonization level of the Bacillus strain. However, negative impact on surfactin production was observed in Agrobacterium-treated seedling, compared with control. Further investigation suggests that these modulations are due to a modified tomato root exudate composition during the tripartite interaction. Thus, this work contributes to enhance the knowledge on the impact of interspecies interaction on the ecological fitness of Bacillus cells living in the rhizosphere. © 2020, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

This paper demonstrated the relative bactericidal activity of photoirradiated (6W-UV Torch, λ > 340 nm and intensity = 0.64 mW/cm) P25-TiO nanoparticles, nanorods, and nanotubes for the killing of Gram-negative bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens LBA4404 for the first time. TiO nanorod (anatase) with length of 70-100 nm and diameter of 10-12 nm, and TiO nanotube with length of 90-110 nm and diameter of 9-11 nm were prepared from P-25 Degussa TiO (size, 30-50 nm) by hydrothermal method and compared their biocidal activity both in aqueous slurry and thin films. The mode of bacterial cell decomposition was analyzed through transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR), and K ion leakage. The antimicrobial activity of photoirradiated TiO of different shapes was found to be in the order P25-TiO > nanorod > nanotube which is reverse to their specific surface area as 54 < 79 < 176 m g, evidencing that the highest activity of P25-TiO nanoparticles is not due to surface area as their crystal structure and surface morphology are entirely different. TiO thin films always exhibited less photoactivity as compared to its aqueous suspension under similar conditions of cell viability test. The changes in the bacterial surface morphology by UV-irradiated P25-TiO nanoparticles was examined by TEM, oxidative degradation of cell components such as proteins, carbohydrates, phospholipids, nucleic acids by FT-IR spectral analysis, and K ion leakage (2.5 ppm as compared to 0.4 ppm for control culture) as a measure of loss in cell membrane permeability.