Impact of 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol-producing biocontrol strain Pseudomonas fluorescens F113 on intraspecific diversity of resident culturable fluorescent pseudomonads associated with the roots of field-grown sugar beet seedlings

The impact of the 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol-producing biocontrol agent Pse udomonas fluorescens F113Rif on the diversity of the resident community of culturable fluorescent pseudomonads associated with the roots of field-grow n sugar beet seedlings was evaluated. At 19 days after sowing, the seed ino culant F113Rif had replaced some of the resident culturable fluorescent pse udomonads at the rhizoplane but had no effect on the number of these bacter ia in the rhizosphere. A total of 498 isolates of resident fluorescent pseu domonads were obtained and characterized by molecular means at the level of broad phylogenetic groups (by amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis ) and at the strain level (with random amplified polymorphic DNA markers) a s well as phenotypically (55 physiological tests). The introduced pseudomon ad induced a major shift in the composition of the resident culturable fluo rescent Pseudomonas community, as the percentage of rhizoplane isolates cap able of growing on three carbon substrates (erythritol, adonitol, and L-try ptophan) not assimilated by the inoculant was increased from less than 10% to more than 40%. However, the pseudomonads selected did not display enhanc ed resistance to 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol. The shift in the resident popu lations, which was spatially limited to the surface of the root (i.e., the rhizoplane), took place without affecting the relative proportions of phylo genetic groups or the high level of strain diversity of the resident cultur able fluorescent Pseudomonas community. These results suggest that the root -associated Pseudomonas community of sugar beet seedlings is resilient to t he perturbation that may be caused by a taxonomically related inoculant.