Yangyang Ma^1,2,3 , Han Zhang^1,2,3 , Yulu Xie^1,2,3 , Bizeng Mao^1,2,3

1 Institute of Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, Zhejiang, China
2 Ministry of Agriculture Key Lab of Molecular Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insects, Hangzhou, 310058, Zhejiang, China
3 Key Laboratory of Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insects of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, 310058, Zhejiang, China
Author    Correspondence author
Molecular Microbiology Research, 2024, Vol. 14, No. 6   
Received: 20 Nov., 2024    Accepted: 30 Nov., 2024    Published: 07 Dec., 2024

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Alternaria alternata is a common fungal species that can cause leaf spot disease in various plants. However, there is little information on Alternaria species causing leaf spot disease in Gardenia jasminoides. In the present study, six Alternaria spp. were isolated from symptomatic leaves of Gardenia jasminoides in Enshi, Hubei Province. Based on morphological characterization and molecular analyses, the six isolates were identified as Alternaria alternata. The pathogenicity test showed that these isolates were the causal agents of G. jasminoides leaf spot disease. Melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine), which exists in all plant tissues and organs, plays a vital role in the plant response to abiotic and biotic stresses. However, the effect of melatonin on the prevention and treatment of Gardenia jasminoides leaf spot has not been reported. In this study, the ability of exogenous melatonin to reduce the pathogenic impact of A. alternata on G. jasminoides leaves was explored. The results demonstrated that 10 mM of melatonin had the most significant effect on the resistance of A. alternata on potato dextrose agar (PDA) plates, and 5.0 μM to 1.0 mM of melatonin effectively reduced the leaf lesion area of G. jasminoides. Overall, our results suggest that melatonin has good potential for application in G. jasminoides, enhancing resistance to leaf spot disease.

Gardenia jasminoides; Alternaria alternata; Leaf spot disease; Resistance; Exgogenous melatonin