Induced systemic resistance in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) by biochar soil amendment

Abstract: Grey mould, caused by Botrytis cinerea, is a major fungal disease of tomato (Solanumlycopersicum) world-wide. The aim of this study was to explore the molecular pathways involvedin the induced resistance against B. cinerea in tomato plants grown on biochar amended medium.We observed that similar pathways of induction of defence-related gene expression take place inleaves of plants grown in biochar-amended medium independently of the biochar type and thatthe effect of biochar on gene expression increases with incubation time. In addition, a mutantdef1, deficient in jasmonic acid lost its induced resistance ability when grown in a greenhousebiochar amended soil. This correlated with a loss of induction of expression of the genesbelonging to the salicylic and jasmonic acid pathways. We conclude that Induced resistance bybiochar amendment in tomato against grey mould depends on jasmonic acid synthesis.