title: Thyme essential oil as a defense inducer of tomato against gray mold and Fusarium wilt.
abstract: The potential of thyme essential oil in controlling gray mold and Fusarium wilt and inducing systemic acquired resistance in tomato seedlings and tomato grown in hydroponic system was evaluated. Thyme oil highly reduced 64% of Botrytis cinerea colonization on pretreated detached leaves compared to untreated control. Also, it played a significant decrease in Fusarium wilt severity especially at7 days post treatment when it was reduced to 30.76%. To explore the plant pathways triggered in response to thyme oil, phenolic compounds accumulation and peroxidase activity was investigated. Plant response was observed either after foliar spray or root feeding in hydroponics which was mostly attributed to peroxidases accumulation rather than phenolic compounds accumulation, and thyme oil seems to be more effective when applied to the roots.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Genetics and Plant Breeding, National Institute of Agronomy (INAT), 43, Av Charles Nicolle, 1082 Tunis, Tunisia. Electronic address: maissa.benjabeur@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Maissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ben-Jabeur
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Genetics and Plant Breeding, National Institute of Agronomy (INAT), 43, Av Charles Nicolle, 1082 Tunis, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Emna
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ghabri
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Genetics and Plant Breeding, National Institute of Agronomy (INAT), 43, Av Charles Nicolle, 1082 Tunis, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Machraoui
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Myriam
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Genetics and Plant Breeding, National Institute of Agronomy (INAT), 43, Av Charles Nicolle, 1082 Tunis, Tunisia; Higher School of Agriculture of Kef (ESAK), 7119 Le Kef, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Walid
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hamada
mesh_terms: D060467:Disease Resistance / Q000187:drug effects*; D005670:Fusarium / Q000254:growth & development*; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000382:microbiology; D009822:Oils, Volatile / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000254:growth & development / Q000382:microbiology; D046930:Thymus Plant / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D009822:Oils, Volatile
keywords: Botrytis cinerea; Fusarium wilt; Peroxidase; Phenolic compounds; Thyme essential oil; Tomato