| Summary: | Tomato is one of the most important horticultural crops in the world and is severely affected by Fusarium diseases. To successfully manage these diseases, new insights on the expression of plant–pathogen interaction genes involved in immunity responses to <i>Fusarium</i> spp. infection are required. The aim of this study was to assess the level of infection of <i>Fusarium</i> spp. in field tomato samples and to evaluate the differential expression of target genes involved in plant–pathogen interactions in groups presenting different infection levels. Our study was able to detect <i>Fusarium</i> spp. in 16 from a total of 20 samples, proving the effectiveness of the primer set designed in the ITS region for its detection, and allowed the identification of two main different species complexes: <i>Fusarium oxysporum</i> and <i>Fusarium incarnatum-equiseti</i>. Results demonstrated that the level of infection positively influenced the expression of the transcription factor <i>WRKY41</i> and the <i>CBEF</i> (calcium-binding EF hand family protein) genes, involved in plant innate resistance to pathogens. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that the expression of tomato defense-related gene expression is studied in response to Fusarium infection under natural field conditions. We highlight the importance of these studies for the identification of candidate genes to incorporate new sources of resistance in tomato and achieve sustainable plant disease management.
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