Lippia sidoides Cham. Compounds Induce Biochemical Defense Mechanisms Against Curvularia lunata sp. in Maize Plants

Bruna Leticia Dias (), Talita Pereira de Souza Ferreira, Mateus Sunti Dalcin, Dalmarcia de Souza Carlos Mourão, Paulo Ricardo de Sena Fernandes, Taila Renata Neitzke, João Victor de Almeida Oliveira, Tiago Dias, Luis Oswaldo Viteri Jumbo, Eugênio Eduardo de Oliveira and Gil Rodrigues dos Santos ()
Additional contact information
Bruna Leticia Dias: Departamento de Fitopatologia, Universidade Federal do Tocantins (UFT), Gurupi 77402-970, TO, Brazil
Talita Pereira de Souza Ferreira: Curso de Engenharia de Bioprocessos e Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Tocantins, Campus Gurupi, Gurupi 77402-970, TO, Brazil
Mateus Sunti Dalcin: Departamento de Fitopatologia, Universidade Federal do Tocantins (UFT), Gurupi 77402-970, TO, Brazil
Dalmarcia de Souza Carlos Mourão: Departamento de Fitopatologia, Universidade Federal do Tocantins (UFT), Gurupi 77402-970, TO, Brazil
Paulo Ricardo de Sena Fernandes: Departamento de Fitopatologia, Universidade Federal do Tocantins (UFT), Gurupi 77402-970, TO, Brazil
Taila Renata Neitzke: Departamento de Fitopatologia, Universidade Federal do Tocantins (UFT), Gurupi 77402-970, TO, Brazil
João Victor de Almeida Oliveira: Departamento de Fitopatologia, Universidade Federal do Tocantins (UFT), Gurupi 77402-970, TO, Brazil
Tiago Dias: Curso de Engenharia Agronômica, Universidade Estadual do Tocantins (UNITINS), Campus de Palmas, Palmas 77001-090, TO, Brazil
Luis Oswaldo Viteri Jumbo: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Tocantins (UFT), Gurupi 77402-970, TO, Brazil
Eugênio Eduardo de Oliveira: Departamento de Entomologia, Universidade Federal de Viçosa (UFV), Viçosa 36570-900, MG, Brazil
Gil Rodrigues dos Santos: Departamento de Fitopatologia, Universidade Federal do Tocantins (UFT), Gurupi 77402-970, TO, Brazil

J, 2025, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Corn ( Zea mays L.) productivity is often compromised by phytosanitary challenges, with fungal disease like Curvularia leaf spot being particularly significant. While synthetic fungicides are commonly used, there is growing interest in exploring alternative compounds that are effective against pathogens, ensure food safety, and have low toxicity to non-target organisms. In this study, we examined the biochemical changes in corn plants treated with Lippia sidoides essential oil and its major compound, thymol. Both treatments serve as preventive measures for inoculated plants and induced resistance. We tested five concentrations of each product in in vivo experiments. After evaluating the area under the disease progress curve, we analyzed leaf samples for enzymatic activities, including superoxide dismutase, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase, and chitinase. Phytoalexin induction was assessed using soybean cotyledons and sorghum mesocotyls. Cytotoxicity tests revealed lower toxicity at concentrations below 50 µL/mL. Both essential oil and thymol stimulated the production of reactive oxygen species, with thymol primarily activating catalase and L. sidoides oil increasing ascorbate peroxidase levels. Both thymol and L. sidoides were also key activators of chitinase. These findings suggest that L. sidoides essential oil and thymol are promising candidates for developing biological control products to enhance plant defense against pathogens.

Keywords: biorational disease control; plant-based essential oil; enzymatic activities; reactive oxygen species; plant resistance activators (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I1 I10 I12 I13 I14 I18 I19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2571-8800/8/1/7/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2571-8800/8/1/7/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jjopen:v:8:y:2025:i:1:p:7-:d:1593309

Access Statistics for this article

J is currently edited by Ms. Angelia Su

More articles in J from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().