# Study of insecticidal and fungicidal potential of endophytic bacteria of wheat, soybean and rapeseed by bioinformatic analysis methods

## TL;DR

This study explores the insecticidal and fungicidal abilities of endophytic bacteria from wheat, soybean, and rapeseed using bioinformatics to identify potential biocontrol agents.

## Contribution

The paper introduces a bioinformatic pipeline to analyze the gene repertoires of endophytic bacteria for insecticidal and fungicidal potential.

## Key findings

- Most strains contained genes for proteins with fungicidal activity like iturins and fengycins.
- All strains had genes for insecticidal proteins such as GroEL and bacillomycin.
- Genomic data aligned with prior experimental results showing high biocontrol activity against pests and fungi.

## Abstract

Endophytic bacteria play a key role in agricultural ecosystems, as they can affect the availability of various compounds, crop yield and growth, and provide resistance to diseases and pests. Therefore, the study of endophytes of agriculturally important crop plants is a promising task in the field of biological plant protection. Understanding the mechanisms of interaction between endophytic bacteria and plants will allow the use of these microorganisms as bioagents in the future and thus reduce dependence on chemical pesticides. In this paper, samples obtained from the leaves and/or roots of wheat, rapeseed and soybean are considered. Whole-genome sequencing of the isolates was performed. Using an analytical pipeline, the genomes of 15 strains of endophyte bacteria of cultivated plants were assembled and characterized. Their insecticidal and fungicidal potential was analyzed. Gene repertoire analysis performed with GenAPI showed a high degree of correspondence between the gene repertoires of strain BZR 585 against Alcaligenes phenolicus, BZR 762 and BZR 278 against Alcaligenes sp., BZR 588 and BZR 201P against Paenochrobactrum pullorum. All strains, with the exception of BZR 162, BZR 588 and BZR 201P, were found to contain genes encoding proteins with fungicidal activity, such as iturins, fengycins and surfactins. All strains also contained genes encoding proteins with insecticidal activity, namely GroEL, Spp1Aa1, Spp1Aa2, Vpb1Ab1, Vpb4Ca1, HldE, mycosubtilin, fengycin and bacillomycin. The obtained genomic data are confirmed by the results of previous experimental studies: high insecticidal activity of a number of strains (BZR 1159, BZR 936, BZR 920, etc.) against Galleria mellonella, Tenebrio molitor and Cydia pomonella, as well as fungicidal properties against Fusarium, Alternaria, Trichothecium, was demonstrated. This shows the practical significance of the identified genetic determinants for the creation of new biocontrol agents.