Effect of Pyraclostrobin Application on Viral and Bacterial Diseases of Tomato

Abstract

Quinone outside inhibitors (QoI) are powerful fungicides, which have been reported, additionally to their fungicide activity, to increase plant capacity to activate cellular defense responses and to promote plant growth. In this work, the effect of the QoI class fungicide pyraclostrobin was examined against Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), Potato virus Y (PVY) and Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato in tomato plants following artificial inoculation of the plants with the pathogens. Under controlled environmental conditions, pyraclostrobin delayed viral and bacterial disease development, even if P. syringae pv. tomato internal population levels were not affected significantly. In contrast, under field conditions in commercial greenhouses, a reduced CMV disease incidence throughout the tomato cultivation period was recorded. Gene expression analysis indicated an effect of pyraclostrobin application on tomato MAPKs transcript levels and a possible interference with plant stress responses.