Transcriptomic Analysis of Tomato Samples Exposed to Chitin Fragments of Alternaria alternata

Postharvest fungal diseases of fruits and vegetables represent one of the important factors that cause economic losses in the food industry. Tomato is an economically important crop, being susceptible to attack by fungi such as Alternaria alternata. For the control of this phytopathogen, alternatives to the use of synthetic fungicides have been proposed, such as the induction of the natural defense mechanism, which can be activated in response to the recognition of specific molecules of the phytopathogen, such as chitin. It has been shown that chitin and its oligosaccharides induce the defense response in plants; however, studies at the gene level on its effect on fruits are scarce. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the differential expression of genes that encode membrane receptors in tomato fruits exposed to chitin fragments of A. alternata by means of RNA-Seq.