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Verticillium wilt of cotton is a severe soil-borne disease caused by Verticillium dahliae worldwide. Phytotoxin of V. dahliae (VD-toxin) plays a crucial role in inducing the wilt syndrome in cotton. In this study, spores of four antagonistic isolates were used in the form of powdered biocontrol agent (BCA) to protect cotton from the toxic and wilting effect of VD-toxin. The application of powdered Streptomyces BCA to soil at the time of sowing considerably enhanced defense-related enzyme activities and increased ortho-dihydric phenol and lignin contents in cotton plants after 6 week cultivation in a greenhouse. Compared to the control treatment, Streptomyces BCA treatment severely enhanced defense-related responses in cotton plants within 24 h post-VD-toxin treatment, which further decreased the accumulation of malondialdehyde and mitigated the losses of root activity, leaf total chlorophyll content, and leaf water content. Ultimately, the Streptomyces BCA treatment weakened the pathogenic effect of VD-toxin on cotton and reduced Verticillium wilt by 20.5% to 68.2% at 72 h. These results indicate that the induction of systemic disease resistance and the reduction of VD-toxin’s pathogenic effect are two important mechanisms of antagonistic Streptomyces BCA for biocontrol of Verticillium wilt of cotton.

Background Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic gastrointestinal disorder characterized by abdominal pain and change of bowel habit without organic disease. A global perspective given by the World Gastroenterology Organization (WGO) points out that IBS can impact the quality of an individual’s daily life, cause socioeconomic problems and potentially impair the patient-physician relationship. It remains a problem to treat IBS due to the complicated pathophysiology. Acupuncture is an alternative therapy recommended for IBS. The aim of this study is to investigate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture therapy for patients with IBS. We also want to explore the correlation between IBS-gene subtypes and acupuncture effect. Methods/design A multicenter randomized controlled trial will be performed in seven hospitals. Six hundred participants will be stratified into two strata (IBS-C or IBS-D). Then, patients within each stratum will be divided into an experimental group and a control group randomly. The experimental group is treated with acupuncture while the control group is treated with Western medicine. All the patients will receive a 6-week treatment and a 3-month follow-up. The primary outcome is the IBS-Symptom Severity Score (IBS-SSS), the secondary outcome is the score of the IBS-Quality of Life (IBS-QoL).The correlation between IBS-gene subtypes and acupuncture effect will be detected based on polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Outcome measures (including primary and secondary outcome measures) are collected at baseline,1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and 6 weeks of the intervention, and 12 weeks after the intervention. Discussion This is a multicenter randomized controlled trial for IBS in China. It may clarify the efficacy of acupuncture as an alternative therapy for IBS. This is the first time ever that the potential mechanism of IBS based on genomics has been investigated. Trial registration Chinese Clinical Trials Register, ID: ChiCTR-IOR-15006259. First registered on 14 April 2015. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13063-018-2922-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.