Application and Evaluation of the Antifungal Activities of Glandular Trichome Secretions from Air/Sun-Cured Tobacco Germplasms against Botrytis cinerea

The secretions of the glandular trichomes of tobacco leaves and flowers contain abundant secondary metabolites of different compounds, such as cebradanes, labdanes, and saccharide esters. These secondary metabolites have shown interesting biological properties, such as antimicrobial, insecticidal, and antioxidant activity. In this study, 81 air/sun-cured tobacco germplasms were used as experimental materials. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the glandular secretion components were conducted using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight-mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF MS) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The ethanol extracts of glandular trichomes from tobacco leaves and flowers were evaluated for antifungal activity against the fungus Botrytis cinerea using the mycelial growth rate method. Orthogonal Partial Least Squares (OPLS) analysis was then performed to determine the relationship between the trichome secretion components and their anti-fungal activity. The results showed significant differences among the antifungal activities of the tested ethanol extracts of tobacco glandular trichomes. The inhibition rates of the upper leaves and flower extracts against B. cinerea were significantly higher than those of the middle and lower leaves, and 59 germplasms (73.75% of the tested resources) showed antifungal rates higher than 50%, with four germplasms achieving a 95% antifungal rate at the same fresh weight concentration (10 mg/mL). The OPLS analysis revealed that the antifungal activity was primarily associated with alpha-cembratriene-diol (alpha-CBT-diol (Peak7)) and beta-cembratriene-diol (beta-CBT-diol (Peak8)), followed by sucrose esters III (SE(III)) and cembratriene-diol oxide. These findings help identify excellent tobacco germplasms for the development and utilization of botanical pesticides against fungi and provide a theoretical reference for the multipurpose utilization of tobacco germplasms.