Alteration of secondary metabolites' profiles in potato leaves in response to weakly and highly aggressive isolates of Phytophthora infestans

Phytophthora infestans is the cause of late blight, a devastating disease in potato and tomato. Many of the mechanisms underlying P. infestans pathogenesis and defense responses in potato are still unclear. We investigated the effects of P. infestans on the changes in the accumulation of secondary metabolites in potato cultivars using whole plants. Four preformed flavonoids and one terpenoid compound produced in potato tissues were differentially affected by the P. infestans inoculation. In Russet Burbank, the accumulation of catechin and rutin was suppressed by both P. infestans isolates US-11 and US-8, while the flavanone P3 was associated with susceptibility to this pathogen. On the other hand, catechin, flavonol-glycoside P2, and an unidentified terpenoid (T1), may be involved in the defense of cultivar Defender to both tested P. infestans isolates, providing new evidence that different preformed flavonoids and terpenoids in potato may play important roles in its defense or susceptibility to P. infestans. These results add to the pool of data showing the involvement of other phenolics and terpenes in potato resistance to microbial pathogens.