Abstract

Chitosan and benzo-(1,2,3)-thiadiazole-7-carbothioic acid S-methyl ester (BTH) are active-elicitors that induce protection in grapevine against several diseases. In this study, treatment of grapevine with chitosan and BTH provided protection to anthracnose, caused by Sphaceloma ampelinum. Chitosan and BTH treatment also increased chitinase, ß-1,3-glucanase and peroxidase activities levels in leaves over non-treated plants. Differential accumulation of these traits was more rapid and pronounced when chitosan and BTH treated plants were infected with S. ampelinum; this pattern indicating priming. The induced resistance by chitosan and BTH was also associated with increased production of salicylic acid (SA) in grapevine leaves, suggesting that SA-dependent signaling pathways are systemically triggered by these compounds. Apart from proteins with defense-related function, most of the proteins induced by chitosan and BTH were involved in defense mechanism, reflecting the strong direct positive effect that chitosan and BTH has on grapevine tolerance to anthracnose disease infection.

Key words: Anthracnose, grapevine, induce resistance, systemic acquired resistance (SAR) biochemical markers, Sphaceloma ampelinum.