Abstract
Plants can use volatiles for remote suppression of competitors. Mints produce essential oils, which are known to affect the growth of other plants. We used a comparative approach to identify allelopathic compounds from different Mints (genus Mentha, but also including Cat Mint, Nepeta cataria, and Corean Mint, Agastache rugosa, belonging to sisters clades within the Mentheae) using the standard cress germination assay as readout. To understand the mechanism behind this allelopathic effect, we investigated the response of tobacco BY-2 cell lines, expressing GFP-tagged markers for microtubules and actin filaments to these essential oils. Based on the comparison between bioactivity and chemical components, we identified menthone as prime candidate for the allelopathic effect, and confirmed this bioactivity targeted to microtubules experimentally in both, plant cells (tobaccoBY-2), and seedlings (Arabidopsis thaliana). We could show that menthone disrupted microtubules and induced mortality linked with a rapid permeabilization (less than 15 min) of the plasma membrane. This mortality was elevated in a tubulin marker line, where microtubules are mildly stabilized. Our study paves the way for the development of novel bioherbicides that would be environmentally friendly.
Highlights
Plants have developed mechanisms to defend and adapt themselves against biotic and abiotic stress factors
The tree clearly shows that the sequences from Mentha species clustered separately from sequences obtained from the other tested genera within the Lamiaceae family (Agastache, Nepeta, Melissa that all formed well supported separate clades). This Mentha clade differentiated into four subclades: M. arvensis and M. spicata were clearly distinct with sufficient bootstrap support (99% for both clades against the other Mentha accessions, 87% for the separation between M. arvensis and M. spicata)
Based on the correlation between bioactivity and chemical composition, menthone/isomenthone was identified as a prime candidate for the allelopathic effect and analyzed further with respect to the mode of action
Summary
Plants have developed mechanisms to defend and adapt themselves against biotic and abiotic stress factors. As part of this defense, plants can suppress the growth of competing neighbors by releasing chemicals, a process called allelopathy (Lambers et al, 2008). In order to exert their effect, they have to be released into the environment, which is the reason, why many allelochemicals are volatiles. This leads to an interesting question that has been rarely addressed: how does the source plant prevent
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