Early Blight Disease Of Tomato Research Articles

The Abilities of Bacteria and Yeast Isolated from Vermicompost Water Extract to Inhibit Alternaria solani in vitro and Early Blight Disease on Tomato

Early blight disease (Alternaria solani Sor) is one of limiting factors in tomato production. Bacteria and yeast are potential for biocontrol of plant diseases. Sources to obtain biocontrol agens is water extract of organic matters. The objective of this study was to examine the abilities of bacteria and yeast isolated from vermicompost water extract in inhibiting the growth of A. solani in vitro and suppressing the pathogen infection in tomato fruits and leaves. Two types of vermicompost used in this study were cattle manure vermicompost and goat manure vermicompost. The isolation of bacteria and yeast from the vermicompost water extract resulted in 14 isolates, which were 10 isolates from cattle manure vermicompost and four isolates from goat manure vermicompost. Among the isolates, six isolates (three yeast and three bacterial isolates) inhibited the growth of A. solani in vitro by 42.8% – 79.1%. In tomato fruits, five isolates inhibited A. solani infection by 70.6% - 100.0%. In tomato plants, four isolates suppressed early blight disease in tomato leaves by 56.2% - 83.5%. The isolate that showed consistent effects in vitro as well as in vivo was bacterial isolate KB 3. This isolate was potential as biocontrol agent of tomato diseases caused by A. solani.

Evaluation of Different Fungicides in Management of Early Blight Disease of Tomato Caused by Alternaria Solani

Ten fungicides, including five systemicat, 50, 100 and 200 μg mL−1 concentrations and five non-systemic fungicides at 500, 1000 and 2000 μg mL−1 concentrations were evaluated for their efficacy against Alternaria solani under in vitro conditions. Among non-systemic fungicides, both mancozeb 75 WP and propineb 50 WP proved highly toxic in inhibiting the mycelial growth. Among systemic fungicides, propiconazole 25 EC and tebuconazole 25 EC proved highly toxic. Two each of most effective, systemic and non-systemic fungicides under in vitro studies were evaluated under field conditions for managing the early blight disease. Under field conditions, the application was integrated with different planting dates in two cropping seasons of 2016 and 2017. The study revealed significant disease reduction in all treatments over control. The treatment combination 1st spray of mancozeb 75 WP @ 0.3% followed by 2nd spray of propiconazole 25 EC @ 0.05% was found to be most efficient in reducing the disease incidence and intensity from 46.0 and 21.8% in unsprayed check to 7.6 and 4.4% at all planting dates. Amongst different planting dates, disease progression was less when planted on 1st May followed by 20th May and 10th June.

Prevalence of tomato early blight disease in Tamilnadu and morpho-cultural characterization of Alternaria solani isolates

The present study was conducted with an objective to assess the prevalence and incidence of tomato early blight disease at different locations in five districts of Tamilnadu, India during 2016. The growth characters and pathogenic variability among the isolates of Alternaria solani were recorded. The survey revealed that the per cent disease index ranged from 12.52 to 34.72 per cent among five tomato growing districts. Amongst the collected isolates AS5 showed maximum radial growth (88.56mm), conidial size (265.63µm x 23.28µm) and beak length (147.71µm). The same isolate was also found as most aggressive with maximum per cent disease incidence (69.46%) on artificial inoculation. The pigmentation, sporulation, growth margin and zonation were also found to vary amongst different isolates. AS5 was found most aggressive with maximum per cent disease index (69.46%) followed by AS2, AS9 and AS6 with a PDI of 65.42, 56.74 and 52.41 per cent, respectively. The least PDI (24.38%) was recorded with isolate AS8.

Efficacy of certain chemical Fungicides and Biofungicides on early blight disease in tomato under field conditions

Efficacy of certain chemical Fungicides and Biofungicides on early blight disease in tomato under field conditions

Impact of different media, temperature and pH on the growth of Alternaria solani causing tomato early blight disease

Studies on the impact of different media, influence of temperature and pH on the growth, cultural and morphological characters of pathogen is greatly influenced for successful management of crop diseases. Therefore, the present study was carried out during 2017 at the Department of Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agriculture, Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu, India to assess the growth of Alternaria solani in different media, temperature and pH. A. solani was inoculated with different media, range of temperature and pH and assess their growth by agar plate method. All the experiments replicated thrice. The study clearly revealed that among the media tested both solid and liquid, PDA and PD broth was found to be the best in supporting the mycelial growth (88.67mm) and mycelial dry weight (289.51mg) of the pathogen. Also, the study proved that temperature of 30ºC was suitable for A. solani and recorded maximum mycelial growth of 69.52mm. Whereas, the optimum pH for the growth of pathogen 6.5 and recorded maximum mycelial growth of 71.52mm. It is concluded that the isolate will be further tested for their aggressiveness in early blight disease incidence.

Green Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Using Pomegranate and Orange Peel Extracts and Their Antifungal Activity against Alternaria solani, the Causal Agent of Early Blight Disease of Tomato.

This study aimed to synthesize silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) by pomegranate and orange peel extracts using a low concentration of AgNO3 solution to controlearly blight of tomato caused by Alternaria solani. The pathogen was isolated from infected tomato plants growing in different areas of Saudi Arabia. The isolates of this pathogen were morphologically and molecularly identified. Extracts from peels of pomegranate and orange fruits effectively developed a simple, quick, eco-friendly and economical method through a synthesis of AgNPs as antifungal agents against A. solani. Phenolic content in the pomegranate peel extract was greater than orange peel extract. Phenolic compounds showed a variation of both peel extracts as identified and quantified by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography. The phenolic composition displayed variability as the pomegranate peel extract exhibited an exorbitant amount of Quercitrin (23.62 mg/g DW), while orange peel extract recorded a high amount of Chlorogenic acid (5.92 mg/g DW). Biosynthesized AgNPs were characterized using UV- visible spectroscopy which recorded an average wavelength of 437 nm and 450 nm for pomegranate and orange peels, respectively. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy exhibited 32x73.24, 2223.71, 2047.29 and 1972.46 cm−1, and 3260.70, 1634.62, 1376.62 and 1243.76 cm−1 for pomegranate and orange peels, respectively. Transmission electron microscopy showed spherical shape of nanoparticles. Zetasizer analysis presented negative charge values; −16.9 and −19.5 mV with average particle sizes 8 and 14 nm fin case of pomegranate and orange peels, respectively. In vitro, antifungal assay was done to estimate the possibility of biosynthesized AgNPs and crude extracts of fruit peels to reduce the mycelial growth of A. solani. AgNPs displayed more fungal mycelial inhibition than crude extracts of two peels and AgNO3. We recommend the use of AgNPs synthesized from fruit peels for controlling fungal plant pathogens and may be applied broadly and safely in place by using the chemical fungicides, which display high toxicity for humans.

Cultural, Morphological and Biochemical Variability Studies among the Isolates of Alternaria solani, the Causal Agent of Early Blight Disease of Tomato

Present experiment was conducted at College of Horticulture, Bengaluru (KA) during year 2017–18 to study the cultural, morphological and biochemical variations among the isolates of the pathogen Alternaria solani, the causal agent of early blight disease in tomato. The results revealed variation among the isolates collected from different regions of Karnataka state, India with regard to the colony characteristics viz., colony colour, mycelial growth pattern, margin of the colony and zonations whereas the maximum mycelial growth in terms of diameter (90 mm) was observed in the isolates Bagalkot (BaBG) and Chikkamagaluru (CMH) on Czapek’s (Dox) agar medium while the least growth (36.33) was noticed in Bidar (BiHH) isolate. The isolate could grow better on Czapek’s (Dox) agar medium as among the 3 media tested Czapek’s (Dox) agar medium produced maximum growth of 80.70 mm and the least growth (63.70 mm) was noticed in V-8 juice agar. The morphological studies revealed that all the conidia of various isolates varied in length (25.07–42.90 µm), breadth (10.53–21.52 µm) and number of horizontal septa (2–7), longitudinal septa (0–4). Biochemical studies among the isolates revealed significant variation in their enzyme activities. The peroxidase activity was more in Chikamagaluru (CMH) isolate (81.80 Unit g-1 FW) least activity was found in Bidar (BiHH) isolate 11.78 Unit g-1 FW whereas the esterase activity was more Bengaluru (BYC) isolate (69.01 Unit g-1 FW) least activity was found in Bagalkot (BaBG) isolate 11.78 Unit g-1 FW. Existence of variation among the isolates of Alternaria solani evident from the results obtained.

A Novel Rhizospheric Bacterium: Bacillus velezensis NKMV-3 as a Biocontrol Agent Against Alternaria Leaf Blight in Tomato.

A novel strain of Bacillus isolated from rhizosphere has shown to be an excellent biocontrol agent against various plant pathogens. In this study, a first report of a Bacillus strain NKMV-3 which effectively controls Alternaria solani, which cause the early blight disease in tomato. Based on the cultural and molecular sequencing of 16S rRNA gene sequence, the identity of the strain was confirmed as Bacillus velezensis NKMV-3. The presence of the lipopeptide which are antibiotic synthesis genes, namely iturin C, surfactin A and fengycin B and D, was confirmed through gene amplification. In addition, lipopeptides were also confirmed through liquid chromatography. The extract showed inhibitory effect against A. solani in vitro and detached tomato leaf assays. Bacillus velezensis strain NKMV-3-based formulations may provide an effective solution in controlling early blight disease in tomato and other crops.

Transcriptome Reprogramming of Tomato Orchestrate the Hormone Signaling Network of Systemic Resistance Induced by Chaetomium globosum.

Chaetomium globosum is a potential biological control agent effective against various plant pathogens. Several reports are available on the mycoparastism and antibiosis mechanisms of C. globosum against plant pathogenic fungi, whereas a few states induced resistance. The potential induced defense component of C. globosum (Cg-2) was evaluated against early blight disease of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and further, global RNA sequencing was performed to gain deep insight into its mechanism. The expression of marker genes of hormone signaling pathways, such as PR1, PiII, PS, PAL, Le4, and GluB were analyzed using real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) to determine the best time point for RNA sequencing. The transcriptome data revealed that 22,473 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were expressed in tomato at 12 h post Cg-2 inoculation as compared with control plants and among these 922 DEGs had a fold change of −2 to +2 with p < 0.05. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis revealed that most of the DEGs were belonging to metabolic pathways, biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, plant–pathogen interaction, chlorophyll metabolism, and plant hormone signal transduction. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis revealed that DEGs were enriched mainly related to binding activity (GO:0005488), catalytic activity (GO:0003824), metabolic process (GO:0008152), cellular process (GO:0009987), response to stimulus (GO:0050896), biological regulation (GO:0065007), and transcription regulator activity (GO:0140110). The gene modulations in hormone signaling transduction, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MPK) signaling indicated the upregulation of genes in these pathways. The results revealed active participation of jasmonic acid (JA) and salicylic acid (SA) signaling transduction pathways which further indicated the involvement of induced systemic resistance (ISR) and systemic acquired resistance (SAR) in the systemic resistance induced by Cg-2 in tomato.

A study on the synergetic effect of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and dipotassium phosphate on Alternaria solani causing early blight disease of tomato

A study on the synergetic effect of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and dipotassium phosphate on Alternaria solani causing early blight disease of tomato

English

Plant extracts (PE’s) has emerged as a safer alternative to manage the fungal pathogens affecting tomato productivity. The current study aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial potential of methanolic fenugreek extract against Alternaria solani, a causal agent of early blight disease in tomato. Fenugreek extract was used at different concentrations of 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% under in vitro conditions. Results concluded that 25% fenugreek extract significantly reduced the radial growth (2.5 cm) of A. solani under in vitro conditions. Based on in vitro results, three concentrations (5%, 15% and 25%) of fenugreek extract was examined under greenhouse and field conditions. The outcomes expressed that 5% fenugreek extract reduced the disease severity up to 30.19% under greenhouse conditions and up to 40.53% under field trials. Although, application of fenugreek extract had exhibited non-significant impact on vegetative and reproductive growth parameters. However, its application had proved better results as compared to those plants which are infected with A. solani but received zero application of fenugreek extract. Furthermore, the effectiveness of plant extracts was evaluated by variant photosynthetic, antioxidative, polyphenolic and hypersensitive response of A. solani affected tomato plants. The 25% fenugreek extract application had augmented the chlorophyll pigments along with the significant increment of superoxide dismutase (174.16 U mg-1 protein), peroxidase (7.61 µmol min-1 g-1 protein) and catalase activity (4.73 nmol min-1 g-1 protein). Similar outcomes were observed regarding phenolic compounds, where 5% fenugreek extract application had enhanced flavonoid levels (26.62 mg QuE g-1), tannins (1.28 mg TE g-1 extract) and total phenolic contents (2.39 mg GAE g-1) in tomato leaves demonstrating its protective effect against early blight. In dose response, 25% fenugreek extract was most effective in reducing lipid peroxidation and enhancing H2O2 levels. The outcomes of study exhibited the fenugreek extract as an effective strategy to be used against A. solani to control early blight infection in tomato plants. Thus, it can serve as suitable fungicide alternative for resource-poor agriculture areas mainly in developing countries.

Comparative evaluation of physiological and biochemical alteration in tomato plants infected by Alternaria alternata in response to Trichoderma viride and Chaetomium globosum application

Tomato is one of the most consumable vegetable crops worldwide. The crop is affected by several pathogens and early blight disease is one of the most deleterious diseases that can severely affect tomato foliage. The current study was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the endophytic fungi Trichoderma viride and Chaetomium globosum to manage the early blight disease of tomato and to assess the plant innate defense response to the biocontrol agents application. Results revealed that foliar application of T. viride and C. globosum either alone or in combination reduced disease incidence by 73.3, 37.6, 59.1% respectively while disease severity reached 18.7, 46.4, 37.6% compared to control plants. At the same time, the treatments increased tomato growth significantly both the shoot fresh weight at a rate of 32, 9, 25% and root fresh weight at a rate of 54, 18, 27% of T . viride, C. globosum and the mixture of the two fungi respectively. Consequently, the shoot and root dry weights were increased as compared to control plants. Measurements of physiological and biochemical parameters exhibited a substantial increase in chlorophyll contents (Chl a, Chl b, Total chl) but a decrease in hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), membrane ion leakage, and Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels at 48 and 96 h post treatments. Furthermore, assessment of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) revealed a substantial enhancement of the SOD enzymatic activities reached 3, 1.8, 2.6 folds at day 3 and 5.2, 2.8, 3.8 folds at day 5 post treatments for T. viride, C. globosum and the mixture of the two fungi respectively whereas the increase in CAT activities reached 4.6, 2.3, 2.6 folds at day 3 and 16, 9.5, 9.5 folds at day 5 of the same treatments respectively. Subsequently, it was concluded that the two fungi were able to protect tomato plants against A. alternata via suppression of disease incidence, enhancement of chlorophyll contents, improvement of the plant health and induction of tomato innate defense system. Generally, T. viride was more effective in controlling early blight disease over C. globosum alone or in combination with T. viride. There was no synergistic interaction observed.

Barnyard grass [Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) Beauv] leaves extract against tomato pests.

Tomato is one of the widely cultivated crops worldwide that is affected by several pests, such as fungi (Fusarium oxysoporum, Alternaria solani), bacteria (Pectobacterium carotovorum) and weeds (Cyperus iria L., Amaranthus spinosus). A growing interest has emerged for developing plant-derived pesticidal compounds to counteract these pests. One attractive alternative is to use barnyard grass (Echinochloa crus-galli), known to be widely resistant to synthetic herbicides, as a potential biopesticide compound source. Phytochemical screening of the crude extract showed that phenolic compounds were the most abundant component present in barnyard grass. The crude extract was evaluated for antifungal, antibacterial and herbicidal activities. Bioassays showed inhibition against F. oxysporum (10.73 ± 1.30%) and A. solani (20.47 ± 3.51%), the causative agent of Fusarium rot and early blight disease in tomato, respectively. Antibacterial activity against P. carotovorum gave a mean zone of inhibition (paper disc diffusion assay) of 17.00 ± 1.00 mm and an IC50 (dose-response assay) of 2.26 mg mL-1 was observed. Dose-responsive herbicidal activity on the lettuce seed germination bioassay produced an IC50 of 459.30 ppm. Selectivity studies showed inhibition towards C. iria and A. spinosus with no effect on tomato. Lastly, bioassay-guided fractionation coupled with untargeted metabolomics studies using ultra-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection-tandem mass spectrometry mass analyses revealed loliolide and tricin as the putative metabolites present in barnyard grass. To date, this is the first reported study on using barnyard grass as a potential alternative biopesticide against tomato pests such as fungi, bacteria and weeds. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

Effectiveness of some biotic and abiotic agents to control tomato early blight disease caused by Alternaria solani

Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Trichoderma harzianum, Trichoderma album and Trichoderma viride isolates, as well as different concentrations of chemical inducers, such as chitosan and salicylic acid were evaluated against Tomato early blight, under laboratory and greenhouse conditions. Under laboratory conditions, all tested bio agents, as well as the different concentrations of the tested chemical inducers, decreased the linear growth of A. solani, as the inhibition of fungal growth was increased by increasing the concentration of both chemical inducers in the growing medium. The chemical inducer chitosan at a concentration of 4.0 mg/mL PDA medium, caused the highest inhibition of linear growth of the fungus, followed by anti-fungus T. harzianum. When, different concentrations of chitosan and salicylic acid were tested on spore germination of A. solani, a concentration of 4.0 (mg/mL), for chitosan and a concentration of 25.0 (mM), for salicylic acid were the best concentrations used to reduce the spore germination of A. solani. Under greenhouse conditions, spraying tomato plants (cv. Super Strain B hybrid), with any of the tested biological agents as well as different concentrations of both the chemical inducers before infection of tomato plants by A. solani reduced the severity of early blight, in addition, to increase the fresh and dry weight of tomato plants. The chemical inducer chitosan at a concentration of 4.0 (mg/mL), caused the highest decrease of the disease severity, and the highest increase in fresh and dry weight of tomato plants, followed by the bio agent T. harzianum. The activities of defense-related enzymes i.e., polyphenoloxidase, peroxidase and chitinase were significantly increased in all treated plants with the tested biotic and abiotic agents. Chitosan at a concentration of 4.0 (mg/mL) resulted in the highest activity of oxidative enzymes, followed by T. harzianum. Meanwhile, the total content of phenols was higher in treated plants than in the untreated ones. The tested bio agents and chemical inducers might be playing an important role in management of tomato early blight through induction of induced systemic resistance.

Efficacy of some conventional fungicides and essential oils against tomato early blight disease

Fungicidal activity of nine selected conventional fungicides, identified five plant oils and their combined effect against A. solani, the causal pathogen of early blight on tomato. GC-MS analysis of the tested oils indicated that terpene hydrocarbons (97%) with cinnamaldehyde as the major compound; sulfur compounds; fatty acids and organo-sulfur-containing compounds were the main components in cinnamon, garlic, mustard and onion oils, respectively. In vitro, Speedcide® (difenoconazole) and Cabrioduo® (Dimethomorph + Pyraclostrobin) were the most effective against the A. solani fungus with EC50 values of 94.6 and 88.6 ppm respectively. Toledo® (Tebuconzole) achieved EC50 value of 631.2 ppm. Roxyl-M® was significantly more effective than Roxyl–plus® or Remik®. Speedcide® alone or mixed with mandipropamid or azoxystrobin in Revus-Top® or Cruze® were the lowest effective in vitro. Garlic and mustard oils were more effective in liquid media than solid one. Cinnamon, onion, garlic and bitter almond oils caused moderate fungi-toxicity against early blight pathogen and could be implemented in the IPM program. Lower EC50 values were obtained in case of combinations of fungicides with oils than separate treatments. Effect of the active conventional fungicides and plant oils on disease indices, relative disease control, chlorophyll content, sugar contents and poly phenol oxidase in tomato plants was also studied.

Efficacy of some conventional fungicides and essential oils against tomato early blight disease

Efficacy of some conventional fungicides and essential oils against tomato early blight disease

IN- VITRO ASSAY OF ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF VARIOUS ELICITORS AND BINDERS AGAINST ALTERNARIA ALTERNATA

In the present study, in-vitro antifungal activity of various elicitors and binders were evaluated against Alternaria alternata, causative agent of early blight disease in Tomato. Antifungal activities were assayed by poison food technique. Among all elicitors and binders best optimum activity was observed for castor oil cake and cow dung 63.06% and 60 .95% respectively against Alternaria alternata. On the basis of results obtained, best active elicitor i.e., castor oil cake and binder cow dung can be used to develop the plant extract-based bio-formulation for effective control of leaf blight disease of Tomato in an eco-friendly manner.

Role of biochar, compost and plant growth promoting rhizobacteria in the management of tomato early blight disease

The individual role of biochar, compost and PGPR has been widely studied in increasing the productivity of plants by inducing resistance against phyto-pathogens. However, the knowledge on combined effect of biochar and PGPR on plant health and management of foliar pathogens is still at juvenile stage. The effect of green waste biochar (GWB) and wood biochar (WB), together with compost (Comp) and plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR; Bacillus subtilis) was examined on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) physiology and Alternaria solani development both in vivo and in vitro. Tomato plants were raised in potting mixture modified with only compost (Comp) at application rate of 20% (v/v), and along with WB and GWB at application rate of 3 and 6% (v/v), each separately, in combination with or without B. subtilis. In comparison with WB amended soil substrate, percentage disease index was significantly reduced in GWB amended treatments (Comp + 6%GWB and Comp + 3%GWB; 48.21 and 35.6%, respectively). Whereas, in the presence of B. subtilis disease suppression was also maximum (up to 80%) in the substrate containing GWB. Tomato plant growth and physiological parameters were significantly higher in treatment containing GWB (6%) alone as well as in combination with PGPR. Alternaria solani mycelial growth inhibition was less than 50% in comp, WB and GWB amended growth media, whereas B. subtilis induced maximum inhibition (55.75%). Conclusively, the variable impact of WB, GWB and subsequently their concentrations in the soil substrate was evident on early blight development and plant physiology. To our knowledge, this is the first report implying biochar in synergism with PGPR to hinder the early blight development in tomatoes.

Curvularia lunata as new causal pathogen of tomato early blight disease in Egypt.

Tomato plants displaying early blight symptoms were collected from different localities in the provinces of Assiut and Sohag, Egypt. The causal pathogens were isolated on potato dextrose agar plates. Pathogenicity tests with 48 isolates were carried out under greenhouse conditions on tomato cultivar (CV 844). All tested isolates caused symptoms of early blight disease with different degrees. The highest disease severity on tomato plants was found after inoculation with isolate No. 6 followed by isolates No. 20 and No. 31. The most pathogenic isolates were identified by sequence analysis using ITS1 and ITS4 primers. The analysis of the amplified sequences from fungal isolates No. 6, 20 and 31 displayed 99-100% nucleotide identity with Alternaria solani, Curvularia lunata and A. alternata, respectively. To our knowledge, this is the first report of Curvularia lunata as one of the causal pathogens of early blight disease of tomato plants in Egypt.

Mineral fertilizers improve defense related responses and reduce early blight disease in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

Alternaria solani is one of the most notorious fungal pathogens that causes the destructive early blight (EB) disease of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.). Direct application of pesticide is a perilous approach to control disease due to its residual effects, therefore manipulating crop nutrition is a holistic approach to mitigate EB disease by improving the resilience in plants against disease in the sustainable cropping system. Achieving this aim, the effects of plant nutrients viz., nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium (NPK), zinc (Zn), magnesium (Mg) and boron (B) were investigated in controlling early blight disease of tomato. Pathogen infestation camouflaged cell mechanism and disturbed the regulation of key player enzymes (SOD, CAT, POX, PPO and PAL) that weakened the plant immunity, therefore, the plants exhibited 100% disease incidence. Applied nutrients reduced the EB disease by effective interference that leads to the induction of resistance in a host against pathogens to a variable extent. Zn proved strong co-factor for the activation of defense-related enzymes that ultimately managed the EB disease from 60–75% and significantly improved the plant growth and physiological attributes by 30–80% with the significant Pearson correlation among defense-related enzymes and total phenolics. The rest of nutrients were not found to be effective in suppressing disease because the correlation among antioxidant enzymes probably did not facilitate intercellular communications to the desired level to boost up plant immune system.