Rapid reactions of spruce cells to elicitors released from the ectomycorrhizal fungus Hebeloma crustuliniforme, and inactivation of these elicitors by extracellular spruce cell enzymes

Abstract

Elicitors released from hyphae or cell walls of the ectomycorrhizal fungus Hebeloma crustuliniforme (Bull. ex Fries.) Quel. induced in suspension-cultured cells of Picea abies (L.) Karst. a set of fast reactions: (i) an immediate efflux of Cl− into the medium, followed by a K+ efflux; (ii) an influx of Ca2+ (measured as accumulation of 45Ca2+ in the cells); (iii) a phosphorylation of a 63-kDa protein and dephosphorylation of a 65-kDa protein (detectable by 4 min after elicitor application); (iv) an alkalinization of the medium, and (v) a transient synthesis of H2O2. The removal of extracellular Ca2+ by EGTA delayed the elicitor-induced alkalinization. A further reduction of this response could be achieved by TMB-8 an inhibitor of Ca2+ release from intracellular stores. Moreover, the inhibition of protein kinase activity by staurosporine prevented the extracellular alkalinization completely. However, the effectiveness of the elicitors in inducing the extracellular alkalinization was strongly impaired by constitutively secreted enzymes of spruce cells which cleaved the elicitors to inactive fragments. It is suggested that in ectomycorrhizae the efficacy of elicitors released from fungal cell walls is controlled by apoplastic enzymes of the host; the plant itself is able to reduce the activity of fungal elicitors on their way through the plant cell wall. But those elicitors which finally reach the plasma membrane of host cells induce reactions that are similar to the early defense reactions in plant-pathogen interactions.