Differential Control Efficacies of Vitamin Treatments against Bacterial Wilt and Grey Mould Diseases in Tomato Plants.

Bacterial wilt and grey mould in tomato plants are economically destructive bacterial and fungal diseases caused by Ralstonia solanacearum and Botrytis cinerea, respectively. Various approaches including chemical and biological controls have been attempted to arrest the tomato diseases so far. In this study, in vitro growths of bacterial R. solanacearum and fungal B. cinerea were evaluated using four different vitamins including thiamine (vitamin B1), niacin (vitamin B3), pyridoxine (vitamin B6), and menadione (vitamin K3). In planta efficacies of the four vitamin treatments on tomato protection against both diseases were also demonstrated. All four vitamins showed different in vitro antibacterial activities against R. solanacearum in dose-dependent manners. However, treatment with 2 mM thiamine was only effective in reducing bacterial wilt of detached tomato leaves without phytotoxicity under lower disease pressure (106 colony-forming unit [cfu]/ml). Treatment with the vitamins also differentially reduced in vitro conidial germination and mycelial growth of B. cinerea. The four vitamins slightly reduced the conidial germination, and thiamine, pyridoxine and menadione inhibited the mycelial growth of B. cinerea. Menadione began to drastically suppress the conidial germination and mycelial growth by 5 and 0.5 mM, respectively. Grey mould symptoms on the inoculated tomato leaves were significantly reduced by pyridoxine and menadione pretreatments one day prior to the fungal challenge inoculation. These findings suggest that disease-specific vitamin treatment will be integrated for eco-friendly management of tomato bacterial wilt and grey mould.

Hydrogen Peroxide- and Nitric Oxide-mediated Disease Control of Bacterial Wilt in Tomato Plants.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in tomato plants by Ralstonia solanacearum infection and the role of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and nitric oxide in tomato bacterial wilt control were demonstrated. During disease development of tomato bacterial wilt, accumulation of superoxide anion (O2 (-)) and H2O2 was observed and lipid peroxidation also occurred in the tomato leaf tissues. High doses of H2O2and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) nitric oxide donor showed phytotoxicity to detached tomato leaves 1 day after petiole feeding showing reduced fresh weight. Both H2O2and SNP have in vitro antibacterial activities against R. solanacearum in a dose-dependent manner, as well as plant protection in detached tomato leaves against bacterial wilt by 10(6) and 10(7) cfu/ml of R. solanacearum. H2O2- and SNP-mediated protection was also evaluated in pots using soil-drench treatment with the bacterial inoculation, and relative 'area under the disease progressive curve (AUDPC)' was calculated to compare disease protection by H2O2 and/or SNP with untreated control. Neither H2O2 nor SNP protect the tomato seedlings from the bacterial wilt, but H2O2+ SNP mixture significantly decreased disease severity with reduced relative AUDPC. These results suggest that H2O2 and SNP could be used together to control bacterial wilt in tomato plants as bactericidal agents.