Comparative study of the effects of artesunate and garlic extract on tomato crown gall disease

Abstract

Crown gall disease causes great economic losses worldwide by reducing crop yields and increases susceptibility to opportunistic pathogens. The anti-malarial Artesunate which is a derivative of artemisinin from Artemisia annua leaf and Garlic extracts known for their inhibitory and cytotoxic effects on the proliferation of human and animal tumor cells were investigated on rapidly dividing plant cells in Agrobacterium tumefaciens-induced crown gall tumor of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) to determine their effects. Twenty four (24) tomato seedlings grown from seeds and divided into 4 treatment groups A, B, C and D were used for this study. Group A and B were inoculated with A. tumefaciens and treated with Artesunate and Garlic extract respectively for 3 weeks. Tomato seedlings of group C were the healthy seedlings that were not inoculated with A. tumefaciens and group D contains the seedlings that were inoculated with A. tumefaciens but not treated. Within two weeks of inoculation with A. tumefaciens, some of the diseased seedlings developed obvious galls (tumors) compared to the Artesunate and Garlic treated seedlings and the healthy seedlings. It was observed that Artesunate and Garlic extracts showed significant inhibition (P≤ 0.05) against gall (tumor) development. Artesunate and Garlic treated seedlings had better growth compared to the diseased seedlings. However, Garlic extract was observed to be more effective than Artesunate at inhibiting gall (tumor). This therefore confirmed the efficacy of garlic extracts and synthetic artesunate against crown gall disease of tomato.

Keywords: Artesunate, Garlic, Crown gall tumor and Agrobacterium tumefaciens