Rhizoctonia solani AG1 IA extracellular polysaccharides: Structural characterization and induced resistance to rice sheath blight

Sheath blight, caused by Rhizoctonia solani (R. solani), is one of the most serious diseases of rice. Extracellular polysaccharides (EPS) are complex polysaccharides secreted by microbes that have a pivotal role in the plant-microbe interaction. At present, many studies have been carried out on R. solani, but it is not very clear whether the EPS is secreted by R. solani exists. Therefore, we isolated and extracted the EPS from R. solani, two kinds of EPS (EW-I and ES-I) were obtained by DEAE-cellulose 52 and Sephacryl S-300HR column further purification, and their structures were characterized by FT-IR, GC-MS, and NMR analysis. The results showed that EW-I and ES-I had similar monosaccharide composition but different molar ratio, they were composed of fucose, arabinose, galactose, glucose, and mannose with a ratio of 7.49: 27.72: 2.98: 6.66: 55.15 and 3.81: 12.98: 6.15: 10.83: 66.23, and their backbone may be composed of →2)-α-Manp-(1→ residues, beside ES-I was highly branched compared to EW-I. The exogenous application of EW-I and ES-I had no effect on the growth of R. solani AG1 IA itself, but their pretreatment of rice induced plant defense through activation of the salicylic acid pathway, resulting in enhanced resistance to sheath blight.