Work

2-picolinic acid, an active component of wood vinegar, suppresses tomato fusarium wilt via direct antifungal activity and modulation of soil chemical and microbial properties

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: As a multifunctional soil conditioner, wood vinegar has shown potential in controlling soil-borne diseases, yet its active components and mechanism of action remain unclear. In this study, taking tomato Fusarium wilt ( Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici ) as the research object, laboratory antagonistic tests and greenhouse pot experiments were conducted to systematically investigate the disease-suppressive effect of 2-picolinic acid (A3), a key active component in wood vinegar(ZM), and its regulatory mechanism on soil chemical and biological properties. The results showed that A3 exhibited an in vitro inhibition rate of 69.34% against F. oxysporum at a concentration of 0.07 g·L −1 . Treatments with 1.2% ZM and 0.07 g·L −1 A3 both achieved over 80–90% field control efficacy against tomato fusarium wilt. 0.3–0.9% ZM and all A3 doses lowered soil Electrical Conductivity (EC), but 1.2% ZM raised EC with a non-monotonic dose effect. ZM continuously increased soil available potassium (AK), available nitrogen (AN), and available phosphorus (AP) with higher dosage. All A3 treatments reduced AK in a dose-dependent manner, while both materials elevated AN and AP at suitable concentrations. Meanwhile, they notably enhanced the activities of urease (S-UE) and sucrase (S-SC), while inhibiting the activities of acid phosphatase (S-ACP) and catalase (S-CAT). Microbial sequencing revealed that ZM significantly increased bacterial diversity, whereas A3 tended to improve fungal diversity. At the genus level, ZM enriched Ammoniphilus and TM7a , while A3 specifically enriched the antagonistic fungus Chaetomium . Both treatments significantly reduced the abundance of the “plant pathogen” functional group. Redundancy analysis revealed that A3-mediated disease suppression was associated with shifts in microbial community composition and changes in soil enzyme activities, consistent with changes in predicted microbial functional guilds. This study provided preliminary correlational evidence for the multi-pathway disease-suppressive effects of wood vinegar-derived 2-picolinic acid. However, the microbial functional data were predicted using PICRUSt2 and FUNGuild without experimental verification. Thus, the inferred regulatory mechanisms require further validation.

Source: Applied Soil Ecology

DOI: 10.1016/j.apsoil.2026.107473

Authors: Yan Shen, Yi Tao, Mingzhu Xiong, Kaize Shen, Hongyin Zhou

Institutions: Zhaotong University, Yunnan Engineering Research Center of Green Planting and Processing of Gastrodia Elata

Language: English

Topic: Plant Disease Management Techniques

Subfield: Plant Science

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Zero hunger

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,320