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Induced Resistance as a Possible Means to Control Diseases of Strawberry Caused by Phytophthora spp.

Two putative elicitors of disease resistance (acibenzolar-S-methyl and chitosan) were tested for their effect on crown rot (Phytophthora cactorum) in strawberry. The effect of both compounds was enhanced when the time between treatment and inoculation was prolonged from 2 to 20 days. There were no significant differences between treatments when the concentration of acibenzolar-S-methyl was increased from 10 to 1,000 μg a.i./plant. The lowest tested concentrations of chitosan (10 and 50 μg a.i./plant) resulted in a lower disease score compared with the highest concentrations (250 or 1,000 μg a.i./plant). There were no differences in disease score between treatment with fosetyl-Al, acibenzolar-S-methyl, or chitosan when applied 5 or 15 days before inoculation. The effect of acibenzolar-S-methyl and chitosan also was tested against P. fragariae var. fragariae in alpine strawberry (Fragaria vesca var. alpina cv. Alexandria). Chitosan had no effect, whereas fosetyl-Al and all treatments with acibenzolar-S-methyl (50 or 250 μg a.i./plant; 5, 10, 20, or 40 days before inoculation) reduced the severity of the disease. There were no significant differences between acibenzolar-S-methyl and fosetyl-Al when applied at the same time. Acibenzolar-S-methyl and chitosan at concentrations of 0.5, 5, 50, and 500 μg a.i. ml^-1 in V8 juice agar were tested for possible effects on P. cactorum and P. fragariae var. fragariae in vitro. Only chitosan at concentrations of 50 and 500 μg a.i. ml^-1 had a growth-retarding effect on P. cactorum. Both acibenzolar-S-methyl and chitosan at a concentration of 500 μg a.i. ml^-1 reduced the growth rate of P. fragariae var. fragariae.