title: Down-regulatory effect of Thymus vulgaris L. on growth and Tri4 gene expression in Fusarium oxysporum strains.
abstract: The aims of this study were to evaluate the efficacy of Thymus vulgaris (T. vulgaris) essential oil on the fungal growth and Tri4 gene expression in Fusarium oxysporum (F. oxysporum) strains. The oil was obtained by water-distillation using a Clevenger-type system. The chemical composition of the essential oil was obtained by gas chromatography- mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) and by retention indices. The antifungal activity was evaluated by broth microdilution assay. A quantitative real time RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) assay was also developed specific for F. oxysporum on the basis of trichothecene biosynthetic gene, Tri4, which allowed discrimination from F. oxysporum. Results showed thymol (32.67%) and p-cymene (16.68%) as the main components of T. vulgaris. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values varied from 5 to 20 μg/ml with T. vulgaris (mean: 10.50 μg/ml), while minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) values ranged from 8 to 30 μg/ml with mean value of 16.20 μg/ml qRT-PCR results revealed a downregulation from 4.04 to 6.27 fold of Tri4 gene expression of the fungi exposed to T. vulgaris essential oil. The results suggest that T. vulgaris oil can be considered potential alternative natural fungicide to the synthetic chemicals that are currently used to prevent and control seed-borne diseases.
authors.affiliation: Mycology Research Center, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Kolsum
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Divband
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Amol University of Special Modern Technologies, Amol, Iran.
authors.forename: Hojjatollah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shokri
authors.affiliation: Mycology Research Center, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: khosravi@ut.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Ali Reza
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Khosravi
mesh_terms: D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D005670:Fusarium / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology*; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal / Q000187:drug effects*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D009822:Oils, Volatile / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D010636:Phenols / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D046930:Thymus Plant / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D009822:Oils, Volatile; D010636:Phenols; D010936:Plant Extracts
keywords: Essential oil; Fusarium oxysporum; Real time PCR; Thymus vulgaris; Tri4 gene