Abstract: We examined the antifungal characteristics of linalool against Botrytis cinerea using plate inhibition assay and spore germination assay, and assessed the capacity of linalool in controlling tomato gray mold disease via tomato pot inoculation assay. The results showed that linalool exhibited strong inhibitive effects on mycelial growth of B. cinerea, with an EC₅₀ value of 0.581 mL·L^-1. In the spore germination test, linalool treatment inhibited spore germination in a dose-dependent manner. The electric conductivity and the malondialdehyde (MDA) contents were significantly increased in linalool-treated B. cinerea than that of the control, indicating that linalool induced oxidative damage and destroyed the cell membrane integrity in B. cinerea. The activities of the superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and peroxidase (POD) in the linalool-treated B. cinerea were decreased significantly by 27.4%, 68.9% and 26.0%, respectively, suggesting that linalool inhibited the antioxidant activity of B. cinerea. In the pot experiment, the diameter of lesions in linalool-treated tomatoes was significantly smaller than that of the control. The activities of SOD, POD, CAT, polyphenol oxidase, and phenylalnine ammonialyase in the linalool-treated tomatoes increased, while the MDA content decreased, suggesting that linalool could alleviate the oxidative damage caused by B. cinerea and promote plant disease resistance. In summary, linalool had inhibitory effect on the growth of B. cinerea and could control gray mold disease in tomatoes. These findings could lay the foundation for developing bota-nical antifungal agents for management of tomato gray mold disease.

Key words: Botrytis cinerea, linalool, tomato, gray mold disease.