Activity of protective proteins in wheat plants treated with chitooligosaccharides with different degrees of acetylation and infection with Bipolaris sorokiniana

Abstract

The influence of chitooligosaccharides (COS) with different degrees of acetylation (DA) on the production of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and changes in the level of gene expression of pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins (oxalate oxidase AJ556991.1, peroxidase TC 151917, chitinase AV029935L, proteinase inhibitor EU293132.1) in the roots of the wheat Triticum aestivum L. inoculated with root rot pathogen Bipolaris sorokiniana (Sacc.) Shoenaker was investigated. Differences were detected in plant responses to infection. These differences were due to the pretreatment of COS seeds with differing DA. Our results demonstrated that COS with a DA over 65% more effectively induced accumulation of H2O2 and increased the transcriptional activity of genes of PR-proteins as compared to COS with a DA of 30%. These data suggest an important role for DA in the manifestation of eliciting properties of COS, also in the presence of H2O2.