Expression of stress gene networks in tomato lines susceptible and resistant to Tomato yellow leaf curl virus in response to abiotic stresses

The defense response to several abiotic stresses has been compared in two tomato inbred lines issued from the same breeding program, one susceptible and the other resistant to Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) infection. The level of oxidative burst and the amounts of key regulatory stress proteins: pathogenesis-related proteins (PRs), heat shock proteins (HSPs) and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) were appraised following treatments with NaCl, H2O2, and ethanol. Significant differences in the response of the two tomato genotypes to these stresses have been found for HSPs and MAPKs patterns at the level of down-regulation but not activation. The higher abundance of HSPs and MAPKs in tomatoes resistant to TYLCV could result in enhanced defense capacity against abiotic stresses.