Salvia miltiorrhiza is a commonly used bulk medicinal material in China. Due to the increasing demand in recent years, the planting area is expanding. In the artificial cultivation of S. miltiorrhiza, continuous cropping obstacles are prominent, which has seriously restrained the growth of S. miltiorrhiza, resulted in serious root diseases, and affected the yield and quality of medicinal materials. The pathogen infection can induce plant resistance. Previously, this research group isolated Fusarium oxysporum and Verticillium dahlia from the roots of diseased S. miltiorrhiza. In this study, 7 days after inoculation of S. miltiorrhiza with F. oxysporum(Foc group) and V. dahlia(Vd group), the incidence rates in S. miltiorrhiza were 48% and 26%, respectively. Both the two pathogens significantly reduced the aboveground biomass of S. miltiorrhiza. Five days after inoculation, the activities of defensive enzymes, such as peroxidase(POD), phenylalanine ammonia-lyase(PAL), superoxide dismutase(SOD), and polyphenol oxidase(PPO) reached the peak. The enzyme activity of the Foc group was significantly higher than that of the Vd group. Three days after inoculation, the expression of defense genes SmPDF2.1 and SmPR10 peaked and then decreased. The results showed that F. oxysporum and V. dahlia showed pathogenicity to S. miltiorrhiza and could strongly induce systemic resistance. In terms of the above indexes, F. oxysporum was superior to V. dahlia.
Salvia miltiorrhiza ; Verticillium ; Dahlia ; Virulence ; Fusarium

Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench) has gained more popularity as an economically significant plant for its nutritional and medicinal value, especially in China. During 2014–2016, the root disease of okra was discovered in four okra commercial fields surveyed in China. A fungul was isolated from the infected tissues, and was identified by Verticillium dahliae based on morphological characteristics. Pathogenicity test demonstrated that the fungus was pathogenic on okra, and fulfilled Koch’s postulates. The analysis of three sequences revealed 99–100% identity with the reported V. dahliae strain in GenBank. Neighbor-joining analysis of the gene sequences revealed that the representative isolates were clustered with V. dahliae. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of Verticillium wilt of okra in China.
Abelmoschus* ; China* ; Dahlia* ; Databases, Nucleic Acid ; Fungi ; Plants ; Sequence Analysis ; Verticillium* ; Virulence