Role of Phenylalanine Ammonia Lyase and Polyphenol Oxidase in Host Resistance to Bacterial Wilt of Tomato

Abstract Plants respond to bacterial pathogen attack by activating various defence responses, which are associated with the accumulation of several factors like defence‐related enzymes and inhibitors which serve to prevent pathogen infection. The present study focused on the role of the defence‐related enzymes phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) in imparting resistance to tomato against bacterial wilt pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum. The temporal pattern of induction of these enzymes showed maximum activity at 12 h and 15 h for PAL and PPO, respectively, after the pathogen inoculation (hpi) in resistant cultivars. Twenty different tomato cultivars were analyzed for PAL, PPO and total phenol content following pathogen inoculation. The enzyme activities and total phenol content increased significantly (P < 0.05) in resistant cultivars upon pathogen inoculation. The increase in enzyme activities and total phenol content were not significant in susceptible and highly susceptible cultivars. The role of PAL and PPO in imparting resistance to tomato against bacterial wilt disease is discussed.