Microorganisms Associated with Soft Rot of Tomato

This seminar report provides an in-depth examination of the microorganisms causing soft rot of tomato. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is a red edible fruit having many varieties which are widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler climates and open fields. It is consumed in diverse ways, including raw, as an ingredient in many dishes and sauces, in drinks and as a vegetable for culinary purposes. Diseases are a major limiting factor for tomato production. Diseases can be classified into two groups. The first are those caused by infectious microorganisms that include fungi, bacteria, viruses and nematodes. These diseases are contagious and can spread from plant to plant in a field, often very rapidly when environmental conditions are favorable. The second group includes those caused by non-infectious physical or chemical factors, such as adverse environmental factors, nutritional or physiological disorders and herbicide injury. Non-infectious diseases cannot spread from plant to plant; however, the distribution of the disease may be quite uniform and extensive if an entire planting was exposed to the adverse factor. Tomatoes are attacked by many kinds of pathogens such as fungi, nematodes, bacteria, viruses and viroids. Among bacterial diseases, bacterial soft rot devastates many significant crops particularly tomatoes and cause a huge decrease in yield. Tomato fruits are more susceptible to fungal attack than bacteria damage, and Rhizopus stolonifer appeared to be the most active of all pathogens associated with tomato fruit spoilage. Therefore the general public should be enlightened on the potential health hazards bedevilling consumption of relatively cheaper ripen-spoilt tomato fruits, as these may be the mediators in food borne fungal and bacterial diseases.