In vitro activity of antimicrobial compounds against X. fastidiosa causing OQDS in Apulia (IT)

Olive quick decline syndrome (OQDS) caused by X. fastidiosa is currently causing severe damages to the production and reducing the life span of the plants in the Salento peninsula of Apulia (Italy). No effective means of control of X. fastidiosa is currently available. The objective of this study was to evaluate in vitro antimicrobial activities against X. fastidiosa (strain Salento-1) of different classes of compounds having diverse origins, i.e. traditional antibiotics, plant-derived natural products, and microbial metabolites. A preliminary bioassay, performed by the agar disc diffusion method, revealed that 17 of the 31 antibiotics tested did not affect bacterial growth at a dose of 5 ?g. Olive mill wastewaters (OMWs), which are known to possess a broad range of antimicrobial activity, are able to inhibit X. fastidiosa in vitro. Most interestingly when we analysed different OMWs derived micro, ultra and nano-filtered fractions as well as some of the single phenolic compounds that they contain, we found that the OMWs micro-filtered fraction is the most effective against the bacterium but only few phenolics are active in their pure form. Also some fungal extracts and bacteria toxins showed noteworthy inhibitory effect to strain Salento-1 growth. The possible use of some of these products for curative/preventive treating OQDS-affected or at-risk olive plants will be discussed.