Abstract
Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.) are a valuable horticultural crop that are grown and consumed worldwide. Optimal production is hindered by several factors, among which Verticillium dahliae, the cause of Verticillium wilt, is considered a major biological constraint in temperate production regions. V. dahliae is difficult to mitigate because it is a vascular pathogen, has a broad host range and worldwide distribution, and can persist in soil for years. Understanding pathogen virulence and genetic diversity, host resistance, and plant-pathogen interactions could ultimately inform the development of integrated strategies to manage the disease. In recent years, considerable research has focused on providing new insights into these processes, as well as the development and integration of environment-friendly management approaches. Here, we discuss the current knowledge on the race and population structure of V. dahliae, including pathogenicity factors, host genes, proteins, enzymes involved in defense, and the emergent management strategies and future research directions for managing Verticillium wilt in tomatoes.
Highlights
The DF phenotype is caused by the presence of the VdDf5 and VdDf6 genes, which are contained in a lineage-specific region that was horizontally transferred from Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum to V. dahliae [43]
Verticillium longisporum isolates were virulent on several non-Brassicaceae hosts such as eggplants, tomatoes, lettuce, and watermelon, and these results suggested that V. longisporum has a wider host range and is more virulent than
A similar approach was applied to identify another avirulence factor, VdAv2, which governs resistance in tomato lines which contain the V2 resistance locus [39]. Both VdAve1 and VdAV2 fall into the typical effector category; small cysteine-rich effector proteins located in lineage-specific chromosomal regions that are highly expressed during host colonization [52]
Summary
Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.) are an important fruiting vegetable grown around the world, with Asia being responsible for more than 50% of the total production (Figure 1A). Food and Agriculture Organization Statistics (FAOSTAT) [1] China (61.5 Mt), India (19.4 Mt), and the United States (12.6 Mt) were the top three tomato-producing countries (Figure 1B). Depending on the part of the world where tomatoes are grown, major constraints in tomato production include a lack of quality seeds, labor, and knowledge of optimum agronomic practices; the high cost of agricultural inputs and price fluctuations; weather constraints; and the serious problem of insect pests and diseases [2,3,4,5,6]. Verticillium wilt is a major biological constraint of tomato production
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