Abstract

Treatment of hypocotyl sections or cell suspension cultures of dwarf French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) with an abiotic elicitor (denatured ribonuclease A) resulted in increased extractable activity of the enzyme l-phenylalanine ammonia-lyase. This induction could be transmitted from treated cells through a dialysis membrane to cells which were not in direct contact with the elicitor. In hypocotyl sections, induction of isoflavonoid phytoalexin accumulation was also transmitted across a dialysis membrane, although levels of insoluble, lignin-like phenolic material remained unchanged in elicitor-treated and control sections. In bean cell suspension cultures, the induction of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase in cells separated from ribonuclease-treated cells by a dialysis membrane was also accompanied by increases in the activities of chalcone synthase and chalcone isomerase, two enzymes previously implicated in the phytoalexin defense response. Such intercellular transmission of elicitation did not occur in experiments with cells treated with a biotic elicitor preparation heat-released from the cell walls of the bean pathogen Colletotrichum lindemuthianum. The results confirm and extend previous suggestions that a low molecular weight, diffusible factor of host plant origin is involved (in French bean) in the intercellular transmission of the elicitation response to abiotic elicitors.

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.