Effect of Abscisic Acid on the Susceptibility of Wheat Leaves to Powdery Mildew Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici

Abstract

Abscisic acid (ABA) plays an important role in the regulation of protective processes under stresses of various nature. In contrast to abiotic stresses, when a plant and a pathogen interact, this phytohormone is in most cases a negative regulator of resistance. However, even with a similar nature of pathogenesis, ABA can produce different effects. For example, ABA treatment in different experiments induced either a decrease or an increase in the susceptibility of cereals to powdery mildew. The aim of this work was to study the immunomodulatory properties of exogenous ABA depending on its concentration in the pathosystem composed of wheat Triticum aestivum L. plants and powdery mildew pathogen Blumeria graminis (DC.) Speer f. sp. tritici (syn. Erysiphe graminis). We studied the change in the number of pathogen colonies on susceptible wheat leaves (Zarya and Tavrichanka varieties) when two-week-old seedlings were treated with various ABA concentrations (0–9 μM) before and immediately after they were infected. When whole plants were used in the experiment, ABA was added to Knop’s solution; in experiments with detached leaves floating in Petri dishes, aqueous solutions of the phytohormone were used. Our results show that the magnitude and direction of the effect of exogenous ABA on the number of colonies of the pathogen depends on its concentration and the time of application relative to the moment of infection. ABA concentration dependence was variable in form: similar concentrations could be inhibitory, resulting in the minimum number of colonies, or stimulating, with the maximum number of colonies. At the same time, the pre-infection use of ABA was more likely to be inhibitory. The non-monotonicity and variation of the form of concentration dependence could probably account for the contradictory literature data on the immunomodulatory properties of ABA. The complex nature of the concentration dependence and the corresponding variation in the immunological state within a fairly wide range seem to ensure the Abscisic acid (ABA) plays an important role in the regulation of protective processes under stresses of various nature. In contrast to abiotic stresses, when a plant and a pathogen interact, this phytohormone is in most cases a negative regulator of resistance. However, even with a similar nature of pathogenesis, ABA can produce different effects. For example, ABA treatment in different experiments induced either a decrease or an increase in the susceptibility of cereals to powdery mildew. The aim of this work was to study the immunomodulatory properties of exogenous ABA depending on its concentration in the pathosystem composed of wheat Triticum aestivum L. plants and powdery mildew pathogen Blumeria graminis (DC.) Speer f. sp. tritici (syn. Erysiphe graminis). We studied the change in the number of pathogen colonies on susceptible wheat leaves (Zarya and Tavrichanka varieties) when two-week-old seedlings were treated with various ABA concentrations (0–9 μM) before and immediately after they were infected. When whole plants were used in the experiment, ABA was added to Knop’s solution; in experiments with detached leaves floating in Petri dishes, aqueous solutions of the phytohormone were used. Our results show that the magnitude and direction of the effect of exogenous ABA on the number of colonies of the pathogen depends on its concentration and the time of application relative to the moment of infection. ABA concentration dependence was variable in form: similar concentrations could be inhibitory, resulting in the minimum number of colonies, or stimulating, with the maximum number of colonies. At the same time, the pre-infection use of ABA was more likely to be inhibitory. The non-monotonicity and variation of the form of concentration dependence could probably account for the contradictory literature data on the immunomodulatory properties of ABA. The complex nature of the concentration dependence and the corresponding variation in the immunological state within a fairly wide range seem to ensure themaintenance of equilibrium in the pathosystem and the chances for survival of both the host plant and the pathogen.