Comparative analysis of BABA and Piriformospora indica mediated priming of defence-related genes in tomato against early blight

•BABA pretreatment more effective than Piriformospora indica in decreasing disease severity.•Both BABA and P. indica treatments primed expression of WRKYs and PRPs genes.•BABA pretreatment resulted in early augmentation of gene expression.

Pre-treatment with BABA or pre-colonization of roots with Piriformospora indica resulted in decreased disease severity in tomato caused by early blight. BABA was found to be more efficient in inhibiting the area of necrotic lesions. Expression profiles of SlWRKY1, SlWRKY11, SlWRKY39, SlWRKY53, SlWRKY70, PR1b, PR2 GLA, PR3 ACHI, PR3 BCHI, PR7, PDF1.2 and NPR1 genes were compared during BABA- and P. indica-induced resistance. Results indicated that both BABA and P. indica treatments led to priming of defence-related gene expression; however BABA pretreatment resulted in early augmentation of gene expression in response to pathogen challenge.