Relationship Between Induced Resistance and Manganese Zinc and Copper Contents of Susceptible Chickpea Cultivars After Their Inoculation With Ascochyta Rabiei

Abstract

The necrotrophic fungus Ascochyta rabiei causes Ascochyta blight (AB) disease in chickpea which infects all aerial parts of the plant, which results in severe yield loss. In order to evaluate the effects of resistance inducers Bion ® (acibenzolar-S-methyl), salicylic acid (SA), potassium hydroxide (KOH) and plant extracts of neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss.), datura (Datura metel L.) and garlic (Allium sativum L.), on the manganese zinc and copper contents of three chickpea cultivars 'C-44', 'Pb-91' and 'Bittle-98' to ascochyta blight disease an experiment was conducted in Pakistan during the year 2007-08. The data of minerals were taken by processing the tissue collected after 7 th and 14 th days and inoculation with spore's suspension of Ascochyta rabiei. Results revealed that the mineral contents increased significantly after the induction of resistance and upon inoculation with the pathogen after 14 th day's time interval. This increase was more evident by the application of chemicals as compared to the plant extracts. Higher contents of manganese and zinc were recorded 14 th days after treatment with (Bion ® @ 1.2mM+ inoculation with A. rabiei) in all the cultivars. However, the copper contents significantly decreased in cultivar C-44 after treatment with salicylic acid, Bion ® and neem while, it increased in all other treatments and cultivars. The over all results illustrated that resistance induction altered the mineral contents in all the three chickpea cultivars with more pronounced in C-44. In future study, molecular level research is required to get an insight into the resistance mechanisms.