A common vitamin helps tomatoes fend off root-eating worms
Crop Improvement
If you've ever pulled up a tomato plant with lumpy, deformed roots and stunted growth, you've likely met root-knot nematodes, and this study points to a simple seed or soil treatment that could keep your next crop healthier without synthetic pesticides.
Root-knot nematodes are tiny worms that attack tomato roots, causing galls that stunt growth and cut yields. Researchers found that treating tomato plants with thiamine, the vitamin known as B1, revs up the plant's internal defense system, including its salicylic acid pathway and antioxidant enzymes, making roots a much less hospitable place for the worms to feed and reproduce. Compared to three fungal biocontrol agents tested in the same study, thiamine was clearly the standout performer at protecting the plants.
Key Findings
Thiamine treatment reduced gall formation and nematode reproduction while improving overall plant growth, outperforming three biocontrol fungi tested (Trichoderma virens T6, T65, and Serendipita indica)
Thiamine boosted activity of the antioxidant enzymes catalase and superoxide dismutase, and increased expression of a salicylic acid-related defense gene while suppressing jasmonic acid and ethylene defense genes
SA-deficient (NahG) transgenic tomatoes lost the thiamine-induced protection, and thiamine-biosynthesis mutant (tenuis) plants were more susceptible to infection, confirming salicylic acid signaling drives the resistance
chevron_right Technical Summary
Vitamin B1 (thiamine) treatment helps tomato plants fight off destructive root-knot nematodes by boosting the plant's own immune defenses, offering a cheap, environmentally friendly alternative to chemical pesticides.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Thiamine enhances the resistance of tomato plants to infection by Meloidogyne incognita through modulation of the salicylic acid-related responses, antioxidant defenses, and histological changes
Root-knot nematodes ( Meloidogyne spp.) are economically important plant-parasitic nematodes, infecting a wide range of crops, including tomato. Induced resistance is considered an effective and en...
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