Abstract
Watermelon ( Citrullus lanatus ), a key global crop in the Cucurbitaceae family, is significantly impacted by wilt disease caused by Fusarium oxysporum . This study used suspension-cultured watermelon cells to examine the physiological and molecular effects of fusaric acid (FA), a major phytotoxin produced by the pathogen, at final concentrations of 0, 50, 100, 200, and 300 μM. The 100 μM FA treatment, used for most assays, reduced fresh cell weight by ∼52%, decreased packed cell volume by ∼70%, and more than doubled malondialdehyde (MDA) content, indicating severe lipid peroxidation. Antioxidant enzyme activities showed differential responses: superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity declined significantly at both 2 h and 24 h, peroxidase (POD) remained largely unchanged, and catalase (CAT) showed no significant variation. FA exposure also caused a progressive increase in extracellular pH and conductivity, reflecting loss of membrane integrity. Pretreatment with exogenous plant hormones (IAA, MeJA, ABA, SA; 100 μM each for 12 h) mitigated several FA-induced effects, with SA showing the greatest recovery in fresh weight and most pronounced reduction of POD activity. Transcriptome profiling revealed thousands of FA-responsive genes within 2–24 h, and inhibition of DNA methylation with 5-azacytidine altered the expression of multiple hormone-related genes. These results demonstrate that FA rapidly impairs growth, membrane stability, and antioxidant defense in watermelon cells, and that targeted hormonal and epigenetic interventions can partially counteract these effects. The findings provide a mechanistic basis for developing priming strategies to enhance watermelon resistance to Fusarium wilt
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Claims 12
Claim · model-written summary
100 μM FA reduced watermelon cell fresh weight by about 52%.
- Taxon
- Watermelon
Citrullus lanatust0 - Treatment
- 100 μM FA treatmente0
- Outcome
- fresh cell weighte0
- Direction
- reducede0
- Value
- ∼52%e0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“watermelon”
e0“The 100 μM FA treatment, used for most assays, reduced fresh cell weight by ∼52%”
Claim · model-written summary
100 μM FA decreased packed cell volume by about 70%.
- Taxon
- WatermelonCitrullus lanatust0
- Treatment
- 100 μM FA treatmente0
- Outcome
- packed cell volumee0
- Direction
- decreasede0
- Value
- ∼70%e0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“watermelon”
e0“The 100 μM FA treatment, used for most assays, reduced fresh cell weight by ∼52%, decreased packed cell volume by ∼70%”
Claim · model-written summary
100 μM FA more than doubled MDA content.
- Taxon
- WatermelonCitrullus lanatust0
- Treatment
- 100 μM FA treatmente0
- Outcome
- malondialdehyde (MDA) contente0
- Direction
- more than doublede0
Not reportedComparatorValue
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“watermelon”
e0“The 100 μM FA treatment, used for most assays, reduced fresh cell weight by ∼52%, decreased packed cell volume by ∼70%, and more than doubled malondialdehyde (MDA) content”
Claim · model-written summary
FA significantly reduced SOD activity at 2 h and 24 h.
- Taxon
- WatermelonCitrullus lanatust0
- Outcome
- superoxide dismutase (SOD) activitye0
- Direction
- declinede0
Not reportedTreatmentComparatorValue
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“watermelon”
e0“superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity declined significantly at both 2 h and 24 h”
Claim · model-written summary
POD activity remained largely unchanged after FA exposure.
- Taxon
- WatermelonCitrullus lanatust0
- Outcome
- peroxidase (POD)e0
- Direction
- unchangede0
Not reportedTreatmentComparatorValue
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“watermelon”
e0“peroxidase (POD) remained largely unchanged”
Claim · model-written summary
CAT showed no significant variation after FA exposure.
- Taxon
- WatermelonCitrullus lanatust0
- Outcome
- catalase (CAT)e0
- Direction
- no significant variatione0
Not reportedTreatmentComparatorValue
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“watermelon”
e0“catalase (CAT) showed no significant variation”
Claim · model-written summary
FA progressively raised extracellular pH.
- Taxon
- WatermelonCitrullus lanatust0
- Treatment
- FA exposuree0
- Outcome
- extracellular pHe0
- Direction
- progressive increasee0
Not reportedComparatorValue
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“watermelon”
e0“FA exposure also caused a progressive increase in extracellular pH and conductivity”
Claim · model-written summary
FA progressively raised extracellular conductivity.
- Taxon
- WatermelonCitrullus lanatust0
- Treatment
- FA exposuree0
- Outcome
- conductivitye0
- Direction
- progressive increasee0
Not reportedComparatorValue
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“watermelon”
e0“FA exposure also caused a progressive increase in extracellular pH and conductivity”
Claim · model-written summary
SA pretreatment gave the greatest recovery in fresh weight under FA.
- Taxon
- WatermelonCitrullus lanatust0
- Treatment
- SAe0
- Outcome
- fresh weighte0
- Direction
- greatest recoverye0
Not reportedComparatorValue
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“watermelon”
e0“with SA showing the greatest recovery in fresh weight”
Claim · model-written summary
SA pretreatment most strongly reduced POD activity under FA.
- Taxon
- WatermelonCitrullus lanatust0
- Treatment
- SAe0
- Outcome
- POD activitye0
- Direction
- most pronounced reductione0
Not reportedComparatorValue
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“watermelon”
e0“SA showing the greatest recovery in fresh weight and most pronounced reduction of POD activity”
Claim · model-written summary
FA elicited thousands of responsive genes within 2–24 h.
- Taxon
- WatermelonCitrullus lanatust0
- Treatment
- FAe0
- Outcome
- FA-responsive genese0
Not reportedComparatorDirectionValue
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“watermelon”
e0“Transcriptome profiling revealed thousands of FA-responsive genes within 2–24 h”
Claim · model-written summary
5-azacytidine altered expression of multiple hormone-related genes.
- Taxon
- WatermelonCitrullus lanatust0
- Treatment
- 5-azacytidinee0
- Outcome
- expression of multiple hormone-related genese0
- Direction
- alterede0
Not reportedComparatorValue
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“watermelon”
e0“inhibition of DNA methylation with 5-azacytidine altered the expression of multiple hormone-related genes”
The same questions in other papers
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- positive
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See all 6 papers →Fusaric acid · physiology: oxidative · Citrullus lanatus (watermelon)Results agree
1 paper in the same direction as this paper
- negative
salicylic acid · growth · Citrullus lanatus (watermelon)Results agree
3 papers in the same direction as this paper
- positive
- positive
- positive
Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.