Abstract
Plant activators are chemicals that induce plant defense responses to various pathogens. Here, we reported a new potential plant activator, 6-(methoxymethyl)-2-[5-(trifluoromethyl)-2-pyridyl] pyrimidin-4-ol, named PPA2 (pyrimidin-type plant activator 2). Unlike the traditional commercial plant activator benzothiadiazole S-methyl ester (BTH), PPA2 was fully soluble in water, and it did not inhibit plant growth or root system development in rice (Oryza sativa). PPA2 pretreatment significantly increased plant resistance against bacterial infection in both Arabidopsis and rice, in conjunction with increases in the level of jasmonoyl-isoleucine and 12-oxo-phytodienoic acid. In addition, metabolite profiling indicated that BTH significantly reduced the abundance of various primary metabolites in rice seedlings, including most amino acids, sugars, and organic acids; by contrast, PPA2 promoted their synthesis. Our results thus indicate that PPA2 enhances plant defenses against bacterial infection through the jasmonic acid pathway, and that as a water-soluble compound that can promote the synthesis of primary metabolites it has broad potential applications in agriculture.
Highlights
In nature, plants are continuously subjected to attack by microbial pathogens and herbivorous insects
It has been shown that BTH regulates Arabidopsis systemic acquired resistance (SAR) and defense priming by the downstream action of accumulation of mRNA transcripts and inactive proteins of mitogen-activated protein kinase 3 (MPK3) and MPK6 [7], indicating that salicylic acid (SA)-dependent immunity plays an important role in plant activator-induced defense priming
To test whether pyrimidin-type plant activator 2 (PPA2) has a plant activator function to stimulate plant defense responses, we first examined the effect of a suitable concentration of PPA2 on the plant phenotype
Summary
Plants are continuously subjected to attack by microbial pathogens and herbivorous insects. Plant activators are natural or synthetic chemical compounds that protect plants from various pathogens by activating the defense priming [2]. The agricultural applications of plant activators have remained far from developed, and most of the compounds (including BTH) cannot dissolve in water; they may cause secondary pollution from the organic solvent. Primary metabolites, such as amino acids, carbohydrates, and organic acids, play a major role in plant cell-maintenance, development, and reproduction [12].
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