Counteracts the Challenge of Infections on Tomato by Modulating Plant Defense Mechanisms and the Expression of Crinkler, Necrosis-Inducing Protein 1, and Cellulose-Binding Elicitor Lectin Pathogenic Effectors.

Decoding the mechanisms of plant defense against plant pathogens in a scenario where antagonistic activity and the plant growth-promoting effects of useful organisms intervene simultaneously is a new frontier of plant pathology. Here, we demonstrated that (i) two selected strains of and promoted tomato () growth and reduced the severity of disease caused by the oomycete and (ii) the genetic patterns of the components of the experimental model system tomato- spp.- were differentially expressed. The beneficial effects in both the promotion of the growth of host plant and the biological control of the pathogen by two selected strains of different species were tested both and . In both respects, demonstrated to be more effective than . Additionally, the simultaneous transcriptional reprogramming of several plant defense-related genes, pathogen effectors, and mycoparasitism-related genes in tomato, , and spp., respectively, was evaluated during the three-component interaction. Results support the hypothesis that spp. elicit the expression of plant defense-related genes. As expected, a mycoparasitism-related gene was significantly up-regulated in -colonizing tomato plants infected by . Finally, a marked up-regulation of the genes encoding two necrosis-inducing effectors was observed in infecting tomato plants colonized by . In conclusion, this study is a contribution toward understanding the genetic pathways related with the ability of spp. to counteract the challenge of infections on tomato. Additionally, the experiments revealed the beneficial effects in the tomato growth promotion of a new strain and its good antagonistic effectiveness in the biological control of root and crown rot incited by , confirming that spp. can be a powerful tool in integrated pest management strategies of diseases of horticultural crops.