The application of a salicylic acid elicitor to rice plants can effectively control bacterial leaf
blight caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo). This method exhibited antibacterial activity at
high concentrations of ≥250 ppm which can significantly reduce growth of Xoo and disease severity.
Salicylic acid affected the bacterial population, swimming motility, twitching motility, biofilm formation,
polysaccharides production, and cell components of the Xoo. By using Synchrotron Radiation-based
Fourier Transform Infra-Red (SR-FTIR) microspectroscopy, changes on the biochemical components
of Xoo were detected in the cell membrane identified as fatty acid (2825 cm-1), nucleic acid, and
phospholipid groups (1162 and 1040 cm−1) when comparing with the untreated samples. The results
indicated that the salicylic acid elicitor can be used as an antibacterial agent to control bacterial leaf
blight of rice by changing its biochemical components and reducing the virulence factors of this
pathogen.