EVALUATION OF COTTON RESISTANCE TO FUSARIUM WILT CAUSED BY THE LOCAL STRAIN FOV4 BASED ON CHANGES IN GOSSYPOL AND SALICYLIC ACID CONTENT

Fusarium wilt of cotton is a serious disease that reduces the yield of this crop. The most productive way to combat this disease is to introduce resistant varieties into production. When the plant is infected with the pathogen, there is an increased production of terpenoids in the plant cell, particularly gossypol, which helps to inhibit the development and spread of the pathogen in the cotton seedling tissue. An endogenous phytohormone, salicylic acid (SA), plays a special role in resistance to pathogenic fungi. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the dynamic responses to FOV4 infection of the Bardosh variety in comparison to resistant (R-4, R-630), moderately resistant (RM-2200) and susceptible (S-609) samples in relation to gossypol and salicylic acid levels. Gossypol and SA were identified by HPLC analysis of cotton leaf extracts. Analysis of the results showed that the Bardosh variety reacted as resistant to FOV4.