TOMATO RESISTANCE TO PHYTOPHTHORA INFESTANS AS REVEALED BY ELECTRONMICROSCOPY

Populations of P. infestans, the causal agent of tomato late blight, sampled from infected tomato plants in different locations were characterized by various marker techniques and via pathogenicity tests. Significant variation in pathogenicity and virulence phenotypes in the populations were revealed. Virulent isolates were used to investigate different stages of late blight infection on leaves, fruits and stems of resistant and susceptible tomato samples by electron microscopy. Marked differences in plant-pathogen interactions were found.