The effect of Cuscuta babylonica Aucher (cuscuta) on chemical composition

ABSTRACT THE EFFECT OF CUSCUTA BABYLONICA AUCHER (CUSCUTA) ON CHEMICAL COMPOSITION MSc THESIS Servan SAVAŞÇI DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY INSTITUE OF NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES UNIVERSITY OF DICLE 2019 Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum), which is one of the most used products in nutrition, has a significant loss of yield due to some pests occurring at different stages of vegetation. Although some tomato varieties have developed resistance to it, cuscuta, a holoparasite flowering plant, is one of the most important pests that have a negative effect on the yield of tomato. In the study, the amounts of fatty acids, calcium (Ca2+) and some phenolic compounds known to work in the defense pathway were investigated in tomato plants harvested on the 5th, 10th and 15th days after the Cuscuta babylonica contamination. The 16:1, 18:1 and 18:2 fatty acids, which act in defense against pathogens, increased to their maximum level on the 15th day of the attack. On the 10th day of the contamination, the amount of Ca2+, which enables activation of the salicylic acid resistance pathway, which is one of the pathways of systemic resistance against the pathogens, has increased significantly.Phenolic compounds, such as chlorogenic acid, rutin, quercetin and salicylic acid, which are common in tomato plants, showed significant increases on the 10th day of the attack. In this study, the increase in the amount of salicylic acid compared to control and the absence of Jasmonic acid and increasing amount of Ca2+ shows that the Lice tomato genotype defends itself against C. babylonica through salicylic acid resistance way. Keywords: Lycopersicon esculentum, Cusuta babylonica, fatty acids, calcium, phenolic compounds