Effect of Calcium Nutrition on Disease Development and Latent Infection of Bacterial Wilt in Grafted Tomato Seedlings

Abstract

To control bacterial wilt of tomato, grafting with resistant rootstocks widely prevails in Japan, but the disease has recently occurred even on grafted plants. Concerning this breakdown of resistance, the experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of Ca nutrition on disease development and latent infection of bacterial wilt in grafted tomato seedlings. Three levels of Ca (0.4, 4.4, or 20.4 mm) in a nutrient solution were applied to grafted seedlings (scion: `Momotarou', resistant rootstock: `Hawaii 7998') grown in a phytotron. One week after the Ca treatment, seedlings were inoculated with a 108 cfu/ml suspension of Ralstonia solanacearum by a stem puncture at the basal stem of the rootstock. The disease incidence was recorded for 21 days. In a second experiment, xylem exudates were collected from decapitated scions of the Ca-treated seedlings 5 days after inoculation. Populations of the pathogen in the exudates were counted by plating on a selective medium. Colonies isolated were reinoculated to susceptible seedlings to check the virulence. The high Ca treatment increased leaf and stem Ca contents, and significantly reduced the disease incidence. While Ca concentrations in the xylem exudates increased with the high Ca treatment, the populations of the pathogen in the exudates were high (>109 cfu/ml) even at the high Ca treatment. All the colonies isolated were virulent. These results showed that grafted tomato seedlings treated with a high Ca concentration were highly resistant to bacterial wilt, but latently infected.