Antioxidative response of tomato genotypes to late blight infection

Abstract

Wild species are widely used as potential sources of resistance of tomato to late blight (LB) (causal agent Phytophthora infestans). The bio­chemical response of wild and cultivated tomato genotypes with different levels of resistance to P. infestans was assessed through the total phenolic and flavonoid content and antioxidative capacity. In total, six genotypes were inc­luded in the research – three cultivated tomato varieties and three wild species. The wild genotypes Solanum pimpinellifolium S 220 and Solanum habro­chaites had a significantly lower infection rate compared to the other tested genotypes. After disease assessment on the leaves, biochemical analyses were performed. Grouping of the wild accessions according to principal component analysis (PCA) analysis indi­cated similar reaction to LB infection. Further­more, late blight trait is closer to cultivated genotypes. Although the phenolics and flavonoids have high impor­tance in the reaction of tomato plants to late blight infection, these traits are not closely related to wild species and the disease. According to this study, the antioxidative tests that indicate a response of wild species to late blight infect­ion are total antioxidant activity (TAA), ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and radical cation scavenging acti­vity (ABTS).