Inhibition of Satellite RNA Associated Cucumber Mosaic Virus Infection by Essential Oil of Micromeria croatica (Pers.) Schott.

Elma Vuko,Dario Kremer,Nada Bezić,Ivan Kosalec,Valerija Dunkić,Gordana Rusak,Biljana Rađa

doi:10.3390/molecules24071342

Elma Vuko, Dario Kremer + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24071342

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Abstract

The present results dealing with the antiphytoviral activity of essential oil indicate that these plant metabolites can trigger a response to viral infection. The essential oil from Micromeria croatica and the main oil components β-caryophyllene and caryophyllene oxide were tested for antiphytoviral activity on plants infected with satellite RNA associated cucumber mosaic virus. Simultaneous inoculation of virus with essential oil or with the dominant components of oil, and the treatment of plants prior to virus inoculation, resulted in a reduction of virus infection in the local and systemic host plants. Treatment with essential oil changed the level of alternative oxidase gene expression in infected Arabidopsis plants indicating a connection between the essential oil treatment, aox gene expression and the development of viral infection.

Highlights

Essential oils (EOs) have become a subject of interest due to their numerous biological effects, attributed primarily to prooxidant effects at the cellular level [1,2]
We proposed that at least one part of defence response mediated by EO involves a change of expression of the alternative oxidase (Aox) gene
Croatia (localities Bojinac (Boj), Bačić kuk (Bk), and Stupačinovo (St)) was subjected to detailed GC and GC-MS analysis to determine chemical composition and the similarity and variability in oil composition depending on locality

Summary

Introduction

Essential oils (EOs) have become a subject of interest due to their numerous biological effects, attributed primarily to prooxidant effects at the cellular level [1,2]. While many individual compounds are toxic to herbivores, others act as antifungal, antibacterial or allelopathic agents, or for priming of systemic defences in both the host and neighbouring plants [6,7,8,9]. A recent area of research is the antiphytoviral activity of EOs. limited, the results to date indicate that these plant metabolites can trigger a response to viral infection [10,11,12,13,14,15,16]. Qualitative differences in EO composition of different plant species do not exhibit a uniform response that would explain the mechanism of antiphytoviral activity. Synthesis of certain Arabidopsis thaliana sesquiterpenes, including β-caryophyllene, are induced by the phytohormones gibberellin (GA) and jasmonate (JA), indicating that the production of these sesquiterpenes is integrated within the GA and JA signalling pathways [17]

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