ABSTRACT
Tomato bacterial leaf spot, caused by four Xanthomonas species, can induce significant losses in the culture, and the use of biofertilizers in the protection of plants tends to reduce the incidence of diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of biofertilizers in the preventive and healing control of tomato bacterial leaf spot. For the preventive control of the disease, tomato plants cv. Santa Cruz Kada, with 3 or 4 leaves, were sprayed with biofertilizers (Soil-Set, Agro-Mos and Cop-R-Quick) and water (control); after two days, plants were inoculated by spraying the bacterial suspension at the concentrations of 109 CFU mL-1 (OD550=0.5) and 106 CFU mL-1, using the isolate UFU A35 of Xanthomonas sp. For the healing control, plants were inoculated with the bacterial suspension and, two days later, plants were sprayed with the biofertilazers and water. The severity of bacterial leaf spot was evaluated by using a diagrammatic scale, at 3, 5, 8, 11 and 14 days after inoculation, and the area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC) was calculated. Preventive control was more efficient in the management of tomato bacterial leaf spot, and the different biofertilizers reduced the disease severity.
Keywords
Solanum lycopersicum; Xanthomonas euvesicatoria; X. gardneri; X. perforans; X. vesicatoria