Demonstrates enhanced apple resistance to Glomerella cingulata, indicating potential for sustainable agriculture.
Fungal metabolites with diverse structures serve as valuable natural resources for green biopreparations and immune elicitors in sustainable agricultural biocontrol. As a small-molecule metabolite derived from the edible fungus Pholiota adiposa, 1-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-β-carboline-3-carboxylic acid (MCA) has been reported to enhance stress tolerance and plant growth, yet its potential and mechanism against fruit tree fungal diseases remain unclear. This study investigated MCA-mediated resistance to Glomerella leaf spot (GLS) in apples. MCA pretreatment significantly alleviated lesion formation in apple leaves and fruits, upregulated immunity associated genes and increased defense-related enzyme activities. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that MCA activated the phenylpropanoid pathway, elevated lignin biosynthetic gene expression, and promoted lignin accumulation and cell wall reinforcement, while also boosting apple seedling growth. As the first application of MCA as a novel immune elicitor in fruit trees, these findings confirm its dual functions of disease resistance and growth promotion, expanding MCA’s application scope and providing theoretical support for green sustainable apple production.
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Cui et al. (2026) studied this question.
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