ACTIVATION OF DEFENSE GENES IN TOMATO PLANTS, Lycopersicum Esculentum L., THROUGH THE APPLICATION OF CHEMICAL AND NATURAL SUBSTANCES

Abstract

Lycopersicum esculentum L. is a plant whose cultivation in the country—both open and greenhouse cultivation—is subject to the use of agrochemicals to make it economically viable, since it is affected by a great variety of pests and adverse environmental conditions. Tomato consumption is widespread in our country because of its taste, for being low in calories, and its antioxidant properties. A diversity of substances has been used to control plant illnesses, it is worth mentioning that ancestrally the use of vegetable extracts has been replaced by the use of chemicals in large extensions of crops. For this work, three WRKY genes were chosen, which act as transcription factors, and have higher expression levels in tomato leaves. Gene activation of SlWRKY 8, SlWRKY 23 y SlWRKY 39 was assessed 24 and 48 hours after the application of: substances of plant origin (T 1), electrolytic chemical (T 2) and a commercial fungicide (T 3). The tomato plants were grown under controlled laboratory conditions. Once the treatments were applied, RNA was extracted, real time PCR was performed and also, relative quantification was used to analyze the expression of the aforementioned genes. These results were analyzed statistically using ANOVA and Tukey’s HSD test to discriminate the effectiveness of each treatment. From the analyzed WRKY genes, only SlWRKY 23 showed and activation reaching a Fold Change value of 4 at 24 hours with the agrochemical treatment. These results provide evidence for the expression of induced defensive genes by substances of biocide activity and the possibility to characterize other substances that may cause this activation in tomato plants.