Antifungal activity of dimethyl sulfoxide against Botrytis cinerea and phytotoxicity on tomato and lettuce plants

Abstract

For the first time the antifungal activity of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) was evaluated against Botrytis cinerea, that it is one of the phytopathogenic fungi which causes the greatest damage in agriculture. In in-vitro tests, the greatest inhibitory effect of DMSO on fungal grow was recorded at pH 6. A significant growth inhibition was caused by 0.5% DMSO at 96 h post-inoculation. With higher DMSO concentrations, significant effects were recorded starting from 48 h post-inoculation. As the medium pH decreased, the inhibitory effect of DMSO also decreased. At pH 4 and 5 significant growth inhibition was caused by 1% DMSO starting from 72 h post-inoculation. At all tested pH values, a total growth inhibition was caused by ≥ 2% DMSO. On tomato leaves infected with B. cinerea, 2% DMSO significantly decreased the extent of damaged leaf area. The administration of DMSO at concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 2% through nebulization on leaves of young Solanum lycopersicum and Lactuca sativa plants did not change the chlorophyll fluorescence (Fv/Fm and Φ_PSII) at any of the experimental times. Overall, the data obtained suggest that, at the concentrations tested, DMSO is toxic to B. cinerea, while it is well tolerated by lettuce and tomato plants.

Keywords:

• Botrytis cinerea
• dimethyl sulfoxide
• antifungal activity
• Solanum lycopersicum
• Lactuca sativa
• chlorophyll fluorescence

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Professors Simone Ferrari and Daniela Bellincampi of Sapienza University of Rome for providing the fungal isolate used in this study.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.