Does red light help tomatoes fight bacteria?
Tomato resistance to DC3000 peaks at 8:00 AM, bottoms at 8:00 PM, and is strongly enhanced by red light.
Source
RNA-seq analysis reveals the role of red light in resistance against Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 in tomato plants
What they did
Assayed diurnal resistance and wavelength treatments, using RNA-seq to probe red-light effects on tomato–DC3000 interactions.
What they found
Resistance is highest at 8:00 AM and susceptibility at 8:00 PM; red light most notably suppresses disease among tested wavelengths, tied to PAMP-triggered immunity timing.
The limits
What it doesn't show
Not automatically generalizable to all crops/pathogens without further tests.
Key terms
- DC3000
- Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato model strain.
- Diurnal resistance
- Day–night change in susceptibility.
- Red light
- Wavelength that strongly suppressed disease here.
- PAMP-triggered immunity
- Innate defense to microbial patterns.
- RNA-seq
- Transcriptome sequencing.
Flashcards
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Peak resistance:
Common questions
Peak resistance?
8:00 AM.
Peak susceptibility?
8:00 PM.
Best light?
Red.
Pathogen?
DC3000.
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