Effect of Cryptococcus laurentii on inducing disease resistance in cherry tomato fruit with focus on the expression of defense-related genes

The objective of this study was to prove and explain the disease resistance-inducing ability of Cryptococcus laurentii on cherry tomato, as well as assay its effect on fruit quality. Apart from disease incidence, activities of defense-related enzymes and expression of critical genes were studied. With pre-treatment of C. laurentii, disease incidences of Botrytis cinerea and Alternaria alternate infected fruits were both significantly reduced. Corresponding mechanism could be explained as C. laurentii can induce resistance in cherry tomato by activating the expression of important defense-related genes, such as genes involved in salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA) signaling pathways and genes encoding pathogenesis related proteins, thus activating comprehensive defense reaction against pathogen invasion. Coupled with the results that fruit color was improved and other physicochemical parameters remained uninfluenced, our study suggests that pre-treatment with C. laurentii can be a promising method to preserve cherry tomato fruits.