Table 1_Irpex lacteus and Bacillus velezensis synergistically suppress tomato gray mold by enhancing antioxidant defense and phenylpropanoid metabolism.xlsx

Furthermore, the combined treatment substantially elevated the activities of antioxidant enzymes (SOD, POD, CAT, APX), phenylpropanoid pathway enzymes (PAL, PPO, CAD, CA-POD, CGA-POD), and increased the contents of total phenolics, total flavonoids, chlorogenic acid, and DPPH radical scavenging capacity. In addition, the combined treatment restored photosynthetic performance, as evidenced by increased maximum quantum efficiency of PSII (Fv/Fm), enhanced activities of Calvin-cycle enzymes (Rubisco and FBPase), and upregulation of photosynthesis-related genes (FBPA, TPI, FBPase, and SBPase).

These biochemical changes were generally more pronounced in the combined treatment than in single microorganism treatments. Collectively, our results demonstrate that I. lacteus and B. velezensis synergistically protect tomato against B. cinerea by mitigating oxidative stress and activating both antioxidant and phenylpropanoid defense pathways. These findings highlight the potential of combined I. lacteus and B. velezensis application as a sustainable biocontrol strategy against tomato gray mold.</p>