Rice seedling whole exudates and extracted alkylresorcinols induce stress-response in Escherichia coli biosensors.

A set of Escherichia coli sensor strains was used to evaluate the stress exerted on surrounding bacteria by germinating rice seed exudates. These biosensor strains contain Vibrio fischeri luxCDABE genes fused to the promoters of different genes involved in bacterial responses to environmental stresses. They provided clear evidence for a stress exerted by rice exudates, as shown by the induction of the universal stress protein gene uspA as well as genes of the heat shock regulon, grpE, lon and dnaK.