Induction of a viable but not culturable (VBNC) state in some Pseudomonas syringae pathovars upon exposure to oxidation of an apoplastic phenolic, acetosyringone

Acetosyringone is a phenolic metabolite often found in plant apoplasts. Its oxidation by hydrogen peroxide and peroxidase results in a prolonged increase in the redox potential of the reaction mixture, similar to redox increases observed in tobacco suspension cells upon treatment with incompatible bacteria. Since high redox potentials, being oxidative, are generally detrimental to bacteria, the effect of acetosyringone oxidation on bacterial viability was examined. Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae was added to reaction mixtures containing acetosyringone, hydrogen peroxide and peroxidase and samples were removed to determine viability by dilution plating. Initial studies were done with low bacterial concentrations, 105 CFU ml−1, to ensure that scavenging of H2O2 was negligible and did not interfere with the reaction mixture. No colonies were formed by bacteria that had been added to reaction mixtures with acetosyringone ranging from 25 to 100 μΜ. Examination of the bacteria by microscopy and flow cytometry, using fluorescent stains that indicate bacterial membrane integrity, suggested that these bacteria had maintained their membrane integrity. In addition they were able to respire based on oxygen uptake. When bacteria were added to on-going reaction mixtures at a time point after the prolonged redox response, the CFU ml−1 increased indicating that a stable reaction product was not responsible for the non-culturability bioactive effect. Other bacterial isolates, P. s. pv. tabaci and Pseudomonas fluorescens, were less susceptible to the bioactive effect of the acetosyringone oxidation. Other phenolics were tested and had lesser degrees of bioactivity and in some cases reduced the bioactivity of acetosyringone oxidation. The 'viable but non-culturable' (VBNC) state of the bacteria in this study is compared to that described for other medical and plant pathogens.