Fuente: PubMed "Tobacco production" BMC Plant Biol. 2026 Jul 9. doi: 10.1186/s12870-026-09430-9. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTBACKGROUND: Meloidogyne incognita is a major soil-borne pathogen in tobacco production, which severely restricts the sustainable development of the Chinese tobacco industry. At present, problems including the diminished disease resistance of mainstream tobacco cultivars and the scarcity of resistant germplasm resources have become increasingly pronounced, and thus the breeding of new tobacco varieties with high resistance to M. incognita has become an urgent priority. Previous studies have revealed that the tobacco germplasm SA1214 originating from South Africa displays extremely high resistance to root-knot nematodes in field trials, yet its specific resistance grade and the systematic physiological and biochemical mechanisms underlying this resistance remain unclear.RESULTS: The results showed that SA1214 displayed strong resistance to M. incognita, with all its disease indices being significantly lower than those of susceptible cultivars such as Yunyan 87. This cultivar effectively inhibited the invasion by M. incognita and significantly delayed the late developmental process of the nematode post-infection. The giant cells at the infection sites exhibited characteristics of early vacuolization and disintegration, accompanied by the induction of plant defense responses including a prominent reactive oxygen species (ROS) burst and programmed cell death (PCD).CONCLUSION: In summary, SA1214 is a tobacco cultivar with favorable application prospects for resistance to M. incognita. This study provides technical support for in-depth investigations into the molecular mechanisms of tobacco nematode resistance and the breeding of disease-resistant tobacco cultivars, and also contributes to the green and sustainable development of the tobacco industry.PMID:42426610 | DOI:10.1186/s12870-026-09430-9