Figure 4. Δgnt2 mutants have reduced colonization ability and induce higher defence response of tomato plants.

(A) Comparative analysis of fungal biomass using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction during disease progression caused by the wild type (wt), the Δgnt2 mutant and the complemented cΔgnt2 strains. Data represent nanograms of fungal DNA amplified from 100 ng of DNA extracted from infected stems. Each column represents the mean from three independent inoculation experiments with three replicates each. Standard error bars are indicated. (B) Expression of defence-response genes in tomato plants three days after inoculation with the indicated strains. Transcript abundance was determined by quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Expression levels in each sample were normalized to the expression of the tomato efα gene and were calculated relative to the uninfected control plants by the DDCt method. Error bars indicate the standard error calculated from three independent inoculation experiments with three replicates each.