Leaf spot-associated pathogenic fungi alter photosynthetic, biochemical, and metabolic responses in eggplant during the early stages of infection
Arya Kaniyassery, Madhavi Hegde, Sudhanva Bhimanakatte Sathish, Sachin Ashok Thorat, S.R. Udupa, Thokur Sreepathy Murali, Annamalai Muthusamy
Abstract
Eggplant is prone to several fungal diseases, of which leaf spot disease is the most devastating in the Mattu Gulla (MG) variety of eggplant. The current investigation focuses on assessing the pathogenicity of fungi associated with leaf spot disease and the effects of fungal infection on host plant physiology, biochemistry, and metabolism. Four fungi, Alternaria solani, Alternaria alternata, Fusarium solani, and Lasiodiplodia theobromae, associated with leaf spot disease, were found to cause infection in eggplants. Plants inoculated with these pathogenic fungi altered photosynthetic rates and chlorophyll pigment contents as the fungal infection progressed, even though the chlorophyll b content was not significantly altered. SOD and GPOX activities were significantly increased throughout infection progression. Untargeted metabolic analysis revealed that eight plant metabolites were present in all treatment groups on the 1st day post inoculation (DPI).