Fulvic acid-induced disease resistance to Botrytis cinerea in table grapes may be mediated by regulating phenylpropanoid metabolism

Dandan Xu; Yizhen Deng; Pinggen Xi; Ge Yu; Qi Wang; Qingqian Zeng; Zide Jiang; Lingwang Gao

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2019.02.015

Fulvic acid-induced disease resistance to Botrytis cinerea in table grapes may be mediated by regulating phenylpropanoid metabolism

Food Chem. 2019 Jul 15:286:226-233. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2019.02.015. Epub 2019 Feb 12.

Authors

Dandan Xu¹, Yizhen Deng², Pinggen Xi³, Ge Yu⁴, Qi Wang⁵, Qingqian Zeng⁶, Zide Jiang⁷, Lingwang Gao⁸

Affiliations

¹ College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; Department of Plant Pathology/Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Microbial Signals and Disease Control, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China; Guangdong Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou 510640, China.
² Department of Plant Pathology/Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Microbial Signals and Disease Control, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China. Electronic address: dengyz@scau.edu.cn.
³ Department of Plant Pathology/Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Microbial Signals and Disease Control, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China. Electronic address: xpg@scau.edu.cn.
⁴ Department of Plant Pathology/Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Microbial Signals and Disease Control, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China.
⁵ College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China. Electronic address: wangqi@cau.edu.cn.
⁶ Guangdong Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou 510640, China.
⁷ Department of Plant Pathology/Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Microbial Signals and Disease Control, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China. Electronic address: zdjiang@scau.edu.cn.
⁸ College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China. Electronic address: lwgao@cau.edu.cn.

PMID: 30827600
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2019.02.015

Abstract

Gray mold caused by Botrytis cinerea is a major postharvest disease of table grapes that leads to enormous economic losses during storage and transportation. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of fulvic acid on controlling gray mold of table grapes and explore its mechanism of action. The results showed that fulvic acid application significantly reduced downy blight severity in table grapes without exhibiting any antifungal activity in vitro. Fulvic acid induced phenylpropanoid metabolism, as evidenced by accumulation of phenolic compounds and flavonoids, higher activities of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), cinnamate-4-hydroxylase (C4H) and 4-coumarate-CoA ligase (4CL), up-regulation of genes related to phenylpropanoid biosynthesis (PAL, C4H, 4CL, STS, ROMT and CHS). Our results suggested that fulvic acid induces resistance to B. cinerea mainly through the activation of phenylpropanoid pathway and can be used as a new activator of plant defense responses to control postharvest gray mold in table grapes.

Keywords: Disease resistance; Enzyme activity; Gene expression; Phenolic compounds; Treatment.

MeSH terms

Benzopyrans / pharmacology*
Botrytis / drug effects
Botrytis / pathogenicity*
Coenzyme A Ligases / metabolism
Disease Resistance
Flavonoids / metabolism
Food Microbiology
Fruit / drug effects
Fruit / microbiology*
Fungicides, Industrial / pharmacology
Phenylalanine Ammonia-Lyase / metabolism
Phenylpropionates / metabolism
Plant Diseases / microbiology
Plant Proteins / metabolism
Trans-Cinnamate 4-Monooxygenase / metabolism
Vitis / drug effects
Vitis / metabolism*
Vitis / microbiology*

Substances

Benzopyrans
Flavonoids
Fungicides, Industrial
Phenylpropionates
Plant Proteins
Trans-Cinnamate 4-Monooxygenase
Phenylalanine Ammonia-Lyase
Coenzyme A Ligases
4-coumarate-CoA ligase
fulvic acid