Korean Journal of Agricultural Science ISSN:2466-2402(Print) 2466-2410(Online) 농업과학연구

Fusarium wilt disease of tomato plants caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lycopersici (FOL race2) is one of the most important diseases of tomatoes worldwide. In the competition between tomato and FOL, the FOL can win by overcoming the immune system of tomato plants. Resistant interaction between the FOL race2 and tomato plants is controlled by avirulence genes (AVR2) in FOL and the corresponding resistance genes (I2) in tomato plants. In this study, 7 FOL isolates (KACC) were used to test their pathogenicity, and FOL race2 was selected because it is a broad problem in Korea. The Fol40044 isolates showed the most severe pathogenicity, and the avr2 gene was also isolated and identified. Moreover, to select resistance, 20 tomato varieties were inoculated with the Fol40044, and the degree of pathogenicity was evaluated by analyzing the expression of the avr2 gene. As a result, three resistant tomato varieties (PCNUF73, PCNUF101, PCNUF113) were selected, and the expression of the avr2 gene was much lower than that of the control Heinz cultivar. This result shows that the screening assay is very efficient when the avr2 gene is used as a marker to evaluate the expression level when selecting varieties resistant to tomato wilt disease. Based on these results, it is possible to isolate the I2 gene, which exhibits resistance and molecular biological interactions with the AVR2 gene from the three tomato-resistant varieties. The I2 gene provides breeders more opportunities for Fusarium disease resistance and may contribute to our understanding of their interactions with the FOL and host plant.