Discovery of edodine, a natural compound from Lentinula edodes with antibacterial activity for the biological control of fire blight pathogen Erwinia amylovora.
TL;DR
Given the strong disease control efficacy of L. edodes HK761 and its active compound edodine, the findings provide a solid foundation for developing new biological control agents for fire blight disease.
Abstract
Background
In the search for biological resources with antibacterial activity against Erwinia amylovora, the culture filtrate of Lentinula edodes HK761 exhibited strong in vitro activity. This study aimed to: (i) identify the antibacterial compound produced by L. edodes HK761; and (ii) evaluate its antibacterial activity and mode of action.
Results
Using bioassay-guided fractionation of antibacterial activity, an active compound was isolated from the culture filtrate of L. edodes HK761 and identified by spectroscopic analyses as edodine. When edodine was applied to Chinese pearleaf crabapple seedlings, necrosis was limited to the leaf rudiment and leaf blades, with a disease control value of 89% at a concentration of 100 μg mL-1. In the transcriptomic profiles, edodine altered gene expression patterns, particularly in pathways related to metabolism and cellular processes. Edodine reduced swarming motility and induced cell elongation in E. amylovora, along with transcriptomic changes in genes related to motility and protein folding. Edodine reduced intracellular ATP levels by 40% and 53% at concentrations of 2 and 5 μg mL-1, respectively. Furthermore, edodine exhibited synergistic antibacterial effects when combined with conventional antibiotics.
Conclusions
Given the strong disease control efficacy of L. edodes HK761 and its active compound edodine, our findings provide a solid foundation for developing new biological control agents for fire blight disease. © 2026 The Author(s). Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.