Boosting Tomato's Defense: Elicitor-Induced Systemic Resistance | InformativeBD

Roselyn G. Andamon,  and Rhodina C. Castillo, from the different institute of the Philippines. wrote a research article about, Boosting Tomato's Defense: Elicitor-Induced Systemic Resistance. entitled, Induction of systemic resistance in tomato against Ralstonia solanacearum using different elicitors. This research paper published by the International journal of Microbiology and Mycology (IJMM). an open access scholarly research journal on Microbiology under the affiliation of the International Network For Natural Sciences | INNSpub. an open access multidisciplinary research journal publisher.

Abstract

Ralstonia solanacearum that causes a vascular wilt disease and has been ranked as the second most important bacterial pathogen and it is one of the most destructive pathogens identified to date because it induces rapid and fatal wilting symptoms in host plants. Potential of thyme essential oil, tea tree essential oil and oregano essential oil in inducing systemic acquired resistance in tomato plants against R. solanacearum was evaluated. The study was lay-outed using CRD, replicated three times with five treatments: T1-control (negative control), T2- Salicylic acid (Positive control), T3-Tea Tree essential oil, T4- Thyme essential oil, and T5-Oregano essential oil. The experimental pots was inoculated with the bacteria and plant essential oils were applied after 2 hours of infestation, then pots were sealed with cellophane for 7 days and tomato seedlings were transplanted after 3 days of aeration. The result revealed that the different elicitors were effective in reducing disease incidence and disease severity in tomato plants. It also increase number of survival plants ranges from 55.55-77.78%, plant height increment and number of leaves. This result implies that tea tree oil, thyme essential oil and oregano essential oils are not only effective elicitors in inducing systemic resistance in tomato against R. solanacearum but it can also improve its growth and development.

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Introduction

The tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum) belongs to Solanaceae family. In the Philippines, it is a popular fruit vegetable that is widely grown as a secondary crop. It's one of the commodities that helps farmers make money. Because of its many uses, including food and skincare, the crop is thought to have a considerable market potential both locally and internationally (Department of Agriculture, 2021).

Tomato production reached 76.47 thousand metric tons in the second quarter of 2021. It increased by 3.0% compared to the 74.27 thousand metric tons produced in the same quarter of 2020 (PSA, 2021). With 28.87 thousand metric tons, Ilocos Region remained the top tomato producer, accounting for 37.8% of the country's total output this quarter. Central Luzon and Cagayan Valley came in second and third, with 10.9 percent and 9.7 percent, respectively (PSA, 2021).

However, soil-borne pathogens are a problem everywhere tomatoes are produced. One of the most devastating soil borne pathogen is Ralstonia solanacearum that causes a vascular wilt disease and has been ranked as the second most important bacterial pathogen and it is one of the most destructive pathogens identified to date because it induces rapid and fatal wilting symptoms in host plants (Yuliar et al., 2015). R. solanacearum is a soil- and water-borne bacterium which invades and colonizes tomato plants via root wounds; it eventually enters the xylem vessels and causes the collapse of infected tomato plants (Zhang et al., 2017).

In the Philippines, crop losses consistently reach 30-80% in bacterial wilt-infested fields (Miller et al., 2005). The universal control methods of R. solanacearum is very difficult because of its species complex are so diverse. Within the Philippines, cultural practices, such as the use of mulch and reduced soil cultivation, have not been successful in reducing bacterial wilt incidence (Miller, et al., 2005). The use of bacterial wiltsusceptible commercial cultivars grafted onto bacterial wilt-resistant rootstocks has been demonstrated to be an effective management tool in both the Philippines and Bangladesh (Miller et al., 2005). This is in conformity with the study of Manickam et al. (2021) that new eggplant rootstocks can be considered as alternatives to the rootstocks currently used for commercial production of tomatoes because it showed low wilting percentage at 0.0–20.0% during the hotwet season. Enhancing host resistance with elicitors, which addresses environmental concerns, is another useful disease management technique. The perception of a pathogen or elicitors activates inducible plant defenses. Elicitors are detected by receptors that are either on the cell surface or inside the cell (Dardick and Ronald, 2006; Dipathi, et al., 2019). The recognition of elicitors triggers the plant's overlapping signaling responses (Kim et al., 2006; Wu, et al., 2014). Plants respond in a variety of ways when they recognize the elicitor. In many plant-pathogen interactions, salicylic acid (SA) has been found to be a key signaling molecule involved in defense responses to pathogen attack (Shetty et al., 2008; Guamizo et al., 2020).

Plant extracts offer antibacterial properties that are effective against plant diseases. Essential plant oils contain a variety of volatile chemicals, including aliphatic aldehydes, terpenoids, esters, and alcohols, in addition to plants (Chouchan, et al., 2017). Fungicidal and bactericidal properties are well known in medicinal essential plant oils and their active components (Ji et al., 2005).

Tea Tree Oil (TTO) derived from Melaleuca alternifolia plant is composed of terpene hydrocarbons, mainly monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, and their associated alcohols. Terpenes are volatile, aromatic hydrocarbons and may be considered polymers of isoprene, which has the formula C5H8. TTO possesses antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and antifungal properties. With biological activity, The antimicrobial activity of TTO is attributed mainly to terpinen-4-ol, a major component of the oil (Carson et al., 2006).

Thyme essential oil (TEO) derived from Thymus is composed of phenolic components with thymol, carvacrol, geraniol and 1,8-cineole as the major components (Ben-Jabeur et al., 2015; Moutassem, et al., 2019). Thymol had antifungal activity against pathogenic fungi and other plant diseases of several fruits and vegetables (Angelini, et al., 2006; Sergvic-Klaric et al., 2007). It has been reported that TEO was effective in inducing systemic acquired resistance in tomato against gray mold and Fusarium wilt (Jabeur and Hamada, 2014), Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris (Foc) and complete inhibition of Phytophthora infestans with a TEO concentrations of 8.0mL L-1 (Mohamedy and Ellatif, 2015) and considerable anti-R. solanacearum (Pradhanang et al., 2003)

Oregano essential oil is composed of 27 chemical compounds and the most abundant bioactive components were monoterpenes and sequiterpenes. Monoterpene carvacrol was the main compound, which comprised 84.38% of the identified compounds and several other natural compounds were reported, which include pcymene, y-terpinene, B-caryophyllene, and terpinen-4-ol 9 (Hao, et al., 2021). Rienth et al. (2019) reported that oregano vulgare essential oil vapour treatment during 24h post-infection proved to be sufficient to reduce downy mildew development by 95%. Karsou and Samara (2021) emphasized in their study that essential oils including oregano as plant resistance elicitors are promising for the loose smut disease management in barley and wheat and can be considered a novel and risk-free biocontrol agent for plant disease control, intensifying crops production under a reduced need for synthetic chemicals.

In this study, essential oils in thyme, oregano and tea tree were investigated under greenhouse conditions as elicitors in inducing systemic resistance in tomato against Ralstonia solanacearum.

In the Philippines, crop losses consistently reach 30 to 80% in bacterial wilt-infested fields (36). Because strains within the R. solanacea-rum species complex are so diverse, the development of universal control methods is difficult. Within the Philippines, cultural prac-tices, such as the use of mulch and reduced soil cultivation, have not been successful in reducing bacterial wilt incidence (36). The use of bacterial wiltsusceptible commercial cultivars grafted onto bacterial wilt-resistant rootstocks has been demonstrated to be an effective management tool in both the Philippines and Bangladesh (36).

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Source : Induction of systemic resistance in tomato against Ralstonia solanacearum using different elicitors