Transcriptome Analysis Reveals the Effects of Chinese Chive (Allium tuberosum R.) Extract on Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-lycopersici Spore Germination

Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-lycopersici (Forl) causes Fusarium crown and root rot of tomato, leading to severe yield losses. Chinese chive and the Chinese chive extract reportedly have antifungal effects. In this study, Chinese chive extract treatments inhibited Forl spore germination, with an EC50 of 0.40 g ml(-1) in vitro. Furthermore, the mechanism underlying the fungicidal effects of the Chinese chive extract was analyzed by RNA sequencing. A total of 1252 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected, of which 396 were upregulated and 856 were downregulated. The DEGs were related to starch and sucrose metabolism, amino sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolism, galactose metabolism, fatty acid metabolism, sphingolipid metabolism, glycerophospholipid metabolism, peroxisomes, ribosome biogenesis in eukaryotes, mismatch repair, and the phosphatidylinositol signaling system, implying these pathways contribute to the fungicidal activity of the Chinese chive extract. The qRT-PCR results verified the accuracy of the RNA sequencing data. Thus, the Chinese chive extract can inhibit Forl spore germination by affecting spore nutrient metabolism.