Nitric oxide-mediated cell death is triggered by chitosan in F. eumartii spores

TERRILE, MARÍA CECILIA; MANSILLA, ANDREA YAMILA; ALBERTENGO, LILIANA; RODRIGUEZ, MARIA SUSANA; CASALONGUE, CLAUDIA ANAHI

PEST MANAGEMENT SCIENCE

JOHN WILEY & SONS LTD

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2014 vol. 71 p. 668 - 674

1526-498X

BACKGROUND: The genus Fusarium comprises a heterogeneous group of fungi important for agriculture. Fusarium solani f. sp. eumartii (F. eumartii) historically considered a fungal pathogen of potato has also been associated with tomato disease. Currently, chitosan and its derivatives have been getting more attention as environmental friendly antimicrobial compound in sustainable practices. The aim of this work was to characterize downstream events associated to the mode of action of chitosan including nitrosative reactive species in order to identify new biomarkers of its cytotoxic action. RESULTS: Our data indicated that chitosan-mediated NO production might lead to conidial death, concomitant with the strong reduction of fungal pathogenicity in tomato plants. Following chitosan applications, a notably dose-dependent reduction of the conidial viability was demonstrated in F. eumartii. Thereafter, the infectivity of chitosan-treated spores was tested by a bioassay using tomato seedlings. CONCLUSION: All these data highlight NO valuable properties as a quantitative and qualitative biomarker of cytotoxic action of chitosan in conidial cells. In addition, these findings place the chitosan here assayed, as a fungicide with a high potential of application in sustainable horticultural practices.