The role of antioxidants in human nutrition has gained increased interest, especially due to their associated healthbeneficial effects for a number of chronic diseases, including certain types of cancer and cardiovascular disease. There is a particular interest in tomato as it is a major component in the so-called “Mediterranean diet” which has been associated with a healthier lifestyle. Tomato...

The plant pathogen Pepino mosaic virus (PepMV) is a major disease of greenhouse tomato crops worldwide. Plant pathogens can induce expression of defence- or pathogenesis-related proteins, including identified allergens. Therefore we hypothesised that PepMV infection results in the expression of allergens leading to a higher allergenic potential of tomato fruits. Transcript level analyses showed...

SCOPE This study was designed to evaluate the ability of tomato rich in lycopene to modify postprandial oxidative stress, inflammation, and endothelial function in healthy weight individuals. METHODS AND RESULTS Twelve women and 13 men (mean age = 27 ± 8 years; mean body mass index= 22 ± 2) consumed high-fat meals known to induce postprandial oxidative stress on two separate occasions contain...

Tomato is one of the most important vegetables in the world. Decay after harvest is a major issue in the development of tomato industry. Currently, the most effective method for controlling decay after harvest is storage of tomato at low temperature combined with usage of chemical bactericide; however, long-term usage of chemical bactericide not only causes pathogen resistance but also is harmf...

The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) draft genome, along with a draft of the wild relative, Solanum pimpinellifolium, were released in 2012, almost a decade after the International Tomato Genome project was initiated. Tomato is an important domesticated crop species, as well as a model organism for many aspects of plant biology such as fleshy fruit development, ripening, disease resistance, plant ...

Fungal wilt diseases are among the most destructive pathogens attacking crop plants globally. Host resistance is considered a key for Fusarium wilt management. Some resistant plant varieties have been screened, but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Here detailed metabolomic analysis was performed of resistant and susceptible tomato varieties in response to Fusarium wilt infection...

The Pto gene in tomato confers gene-for-gene resistance to Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato, the causative agent of bacterial speck disease. Pto was first introgressed from a wild species of tomato into cultivated tomato varieties over 60 years ago and is now widely used to control speck disease. Cloning of the Pto gene revealed that it encodes a cytoplasmically localized serine-threonine protei...

Pseudomonas syringae is the most widespread bacterial pathogen in plants. Several strains of P. syringae produce a phytotoxin, coronatine (COR), which acts as a jasmonic acid mimic and inhibits plant defense responses and contributes to disease symptom development. In this study, we found that COR inhibits early defense responses during nonhost disease resistance. Stomatal closure induced by a ...

The sphinganine analog mycotoxin, AAL-toxin, induces a death process in plant and animal cells that shows apoptotic morphology. In nature, the AAL-toxin is the primary determinant of the Alternaria stem canker disease of tomato, thus linking apoptosis to this disease caused by Alternaria alternata f. sp. lycopersici. The product of the baculovirus p35 gene is a specific inhibitor of a class of ...

The vast majority of plant disease resistance (R) genes encode nucleotide binding site-leucine-rich repeat (NBS-LRR) proteins, which specifically determine the plant immune response and have been demonstrated to be targets of several microRNA (miRNA) families. The fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici (FOL) causes vascular wilt disease in tomato worldwide. Here, we explored a possible ro...