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Abstract

Xanthomonas campestris is a phytopathogenic bacterium and causes many diseases of agricultural relevance. Volatiles were shown to be important in inter- and intraorganismic attraction and defense reactions. Recently it became apparent that also bacteria emit a plethora of volatiles, which influence other organisms such as invertebrates, plants and fungi. As a first step to study volatile-based bacterial–plant interactions, the emission profile of Xanthomonas c. pv. vesicatoria 85-10 was determined by using GC/MS and PTR–MS techniques. More than 50 compounds were emitted by this species, the majority comprising ketones and methylketones. The structure of the dominant compound, 10-methylundecan-2-one, was assigned on the basis of its analytical data, obtained by GC/MS and verified by comparison of these data with those of a synthetic reference sample. Application of commercially available decan-2-one, undecan-2-one, dodecan-2-one, and the newly synthesized 10-methylundecan-2-one in bi-partite Petri dish bioassays revealed growth promotions in low quantities (0.01 to 10 μmol), whereas decan-2-one at 100 μmol caused growth inhibitions of the fungus Rhizoctonia solani. Volatile emission profiles of the bacteria were different for growth on media (nutrient broth) with or without glucose.