Abstract
With the idea of summarizing the outcomes of studies focusing on the resistance induced by Trichoderma spp. against Botrytis cinerea in tomato, the present paper shows, for the first time, results of a meta-analysis performed on studies published from 2010 to 2021 concerning the cross-talk occurring in the tomato–Trichoderma-B. cinerea system. Starting from an initial set of 40 papers, the analysis was performed on 15 works and included nine parameters, as a result of a stringent selection mainly based on the availability of more than one article including the same indicator. The resulting work not only emphasizes the beneficial effects of Trichoderma in the control of grey mold in tomato leaves (reduction in disease intensity, severity and incidence and modulation of resistance genes in the host), but carefully drives the readers to reply to two questions: (i) What are the overall effects of Trichoderma on B. cinerea infection in tomato? (ii) Do the main effects of Trichoderma differ based on the tomato species, Trichoderma species, amount, type and duration of treatment? At the same time, this meta-analysis highlights some weak points of the available literature and should be seen as an invitation to improve future works to better the conceptualization and measure.
Highlights
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is one of the most cultivated horticultural crops worldwide, with more than 180 million tons produced over an area of about 5 million hectares in2019 [1]
Starting from 25 parameters originally recorded from the reviewed studies, the nine parameters included in the present meta-analysis after the application of exclusion criteria regarded B. cinerea infection and defense-related genes involved in JA
From 1932, when Weindling published the first paper describing the beneficial effects of Trichoderma sp. [22] in terms of plant protection from pathogens, a huge amount of research has been performed—focusing on these fungi as biocontrol agents in different pathosystems—to the point that Trichoderma spp. represent one of the most used beneficial organisms developed as active ingredients of commercial biopesticides [23]
Summary
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is one of the most cultivated horticultural crops worldwide, with more than 180 million tons produced over an area of about 5 million hectares in2019 [1]. Because of its wide host range (including more than 200 species over both temperate and tropical areas) and its ability to attack leaves, stems, flowers and fruits, so determining severe pre- and post-harvest losses [5,6], as well as the low efficacy of chemical control due to its wide genetic variability and high capacity to acquire resistance against chemical fungicides [7]. For these reasons, B. cinerea has received increasing attention, becoming a model pathogen in several studies focused on its management [6]. Special attention has been paid to tomato protection, mainly because tomato cultivars with adequate resistance to B. cinerea infection are not available yet [3]
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