Plant Resistance to TSWV and Seed Accumulation of Resveratrol within Peanut Germplasm and its Wild Relatives in the US Collection

Biotic and abiotic stress may induce peanut plants to produce a high amount of resveratrol. The relationship between an individual plant’s response to biotic stress caused by Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) and the accumulation of resveratrol in the seed was investigated. Twenty peanut accessions and six wild relatives were selected from the US peanut germplasm collection and planted with two replicates. Individual plant response to natural-TSWV infection was observed and recorded in the field. Leaf tissues from each individual plant were collected and tested by an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) using specific antiserum for TSWV. Seeds harvested from individual plants were used for quantification of resveratrol by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) analysis. Extensive resveratrol variation in the seeds was detected among TSWV negative and positive plants. Among the accessions evaluated in this study, the specific genotype of each individual definitely played a major role on the capability for synthesis and accumulation of resveratrol. However, the synthesis and accumulation of resveratrol within an accession may not only be affected by a plant’s response to TSWV, but also by other biotic and abotic stress that an individual plant encounters in its environment.