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Phytosanitary problems drastically affect passion fruit cultivation around the world. Scab, a fungal disease that attacks the aerial part of plants, especially the younger leaves, impairs development and reduces plant productivity. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of treatment with a fungal cell wall glycoprotein, named pGM from peptidogalactomanann, in the control scab caused by Cladosporium hebarum infection. Under greenhouse conditions, morphological parameters or plant development were evaluated in two passion fruit genotypes, ‘H09-110/111’ and ‘FB300’. pGM treatment was able to mitigate the damage caused to plant development in parameters such as height, the number of leaves, stem diameter, leaf area and biomass in the ‘H09-110/111’ genotype compared to the control. However, in the genotype ‘FB300’, no significant differences were observed concerning the control. Passion fruit scab disease incidence and severity were also reduced by pGM treatment. Therefore, this study suggests that the use of pGM can lead to control and attenuation of the damage caused by this fungus in the early stages of passion fruit plants ‘H09-110/111’ when the plants are more susceptible to biotic stresses.

Cladosporium species are widely distributed filamentous fungi. One of the most important species is C. herbarum, which is related to infections in a variety of plants and of concern in plantations. Fungal cerebrosides, such as glucosylceramide (GlcCer), have been described as playing important roles in fungal growth and pathogenesis, but GlcCer from C. herbarum has not been characterized so far. For this reason, the present study aimed to elucidate the chemical structure of GlcCer from C. herbarum and its role in the interaction with Passiflora edulis. Mass spectrometry characterization of purified GlcCer revealed two major molecular ions, m/z 760 and m/z 774, and it reacts with monoclonal anti-GlcCer antibodies and is exposed on the fungal surface. P. edulis treatment with GlcCer induced increased levels of superoxide as well as the expression of some genes related to plant defense, such as PR3, POD, LOX and PAL. GlcCer also enhanced growth parameters, such as plant height and root weight. All these results suggest that C. herbarum GlcCer can stimulate plant defense mechanisms, which could help plants to face fungal infections.