Ação do Acibenzolar-S-Metil na resposta bioquímica de defesa do melão desafiado pelo Fusarium pallidoroseum e do meloeiro var. Orange Flesh.

Abstract

Melon fruit constitutes one of the main segments of the Brazilian economy. Its production is exported particularly to countries in the European Union. Thus it is fundamental the control of postharvest diseases of melon. Fusarium pallidoroseum is an important phytopathogen which provokes rot in melon fruits. This disease represents a serious obstacle in its commercialization as a foreign commodity. In this present work the effects of BTH, a structural and functional analogue of salicylic acid, on the biochemical defense responses of melon fruits challenged with F. pallidoroseum and of unchallenged melon plants were assessed. Twelve hours after harvesting melon fruits were immersed in BTH (0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 mM concentrations of active ingredient) and 60 hours later inoculated with the fungus. Fruit cuts (2 cm diameter x 1 cm deep), close to the inoculation sites, were excised at 3, 7, and 10 days after fungal inoculation, weighed and kept at -84 ○C until used. Eight day-old melon plants were sprayed with 300 µL BTH at 0.3, 0.5, and 1.0 mM concentrations. Secondary leaves were harvested at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14 hours after sprayings. Besides to symptom evaluation in melon fruits, crude extracts from the fruit cuts and leaves were prepared with 50 mM acetate buffer, pH 5.2, containing 150 mM NaCl, and the protein contents and enzymatic activities of peroxidase (POX), phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), β-1,3-glucanase (GLU), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were measured. It was observed that BTH did not reduce significantly the incidence and severity of the rot caused by the pathogen. Neither 2 mM BTH significantly modify the activities of defense-related enzymes in melon fruits. Contrary, in the melon plants, BTH increased the activities of POX, GLU, and SOD, but did not modify PAL and further inhibited APX. These results suggest that BTH did not work as an inductor of biochemical defenses in melon fruits, but it induced defense responses in the melon plants. Therefore it is suggested that BTH could be used as a technological strategy for protection of melon fruits from the rot caused by F. pallidoroseum by means of induction of biochemical defense responses of the melon plant itself which will likely be transferring these traits to its fruits. However, this hypothesis that is being proposed needs to be assessed.