Walls Of Infected Cells Research Articles

Induction of Transfer Cell Formation in a Plant Infected by a Biotrophic Fungal Parasite

In this study a combination of scanning (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to examine leaf cells of the common weed Indian strawberry (Duchesnea indica) infected by the biotrophic rust fungus Frommeëla mexicana var. indicae. For SEM, free-hand sections of infected leaves cut with a razor blade were placed in a 5% (wt/vol) aqueous solutions of Ariel (Proctor and Gamble, Cincinnati, OH), a washing powder containing a bacterial protease. This treatment removed exposed host cell cytoplasm so as to reveal details of fungal haustoria and host cell wall responses to infection (Figs. 1, 2). Samples then were processed for study according to procedures described previously. For TEM, samples were prepared for study using high pressure freezing followed by freeze substitution. This fixation procedure has been used with excellent results to study hostpathogen interactions in rust-infected plants.Frommeëla mexicana var. indicae produced specialized hyphal branches known as haustoria that extended through the walls of infected cells. Each haustorium possessed a long, slender neck region (Fig. 3) and an expanded body (Figs. 1, 4) that was separated from the host cell cytoplasm by the invaginated host cell plasma membrane. At maturity the neck region was surrounded by a extensive labyrinth cell wall in-growth or elaboration (Figs. 1-3) that appeared to be identical to wall elaborations that characterize plant transfer cells. Such cells are thought to be involved in intensive solute transfer over short distances. While transfer cells have been reported within cells of the haustoria of various plant parasitic higher plants and in plant giant cells induced by certain plant parasitic nematodes, this appears to be the first report of their formation in response to infection by a plant pathogenic fungus. Not only did these elaborations form in the immediate vicinity of haustoria, they also arose apart from haustoria in infected cells. However, such elaborations were not found in cells of uninfected leaves.

TE7, An Inefficient Symbiotic Mutant of Medicago truncatula Gaertn. cv Jemalong.

A mutagenesis program using ethylmethane sulfonate on Medicago truncatula Gaertn cv Jemalong, an annual, autogamous and diploid lucerne, permitted the isolation of a mutant (TE7) unable to establish an effective nitrogen-fixing symbiosis, [Nod+Fix-], with Rhizobium meliloti wild-type strains. The mutant phenotype is characterized by an altered infection process that leads to the formation of two kinds of inefficient nodules on the same root system. A certain proportion of the nodules are small, round, and uninfected, with infection threads limited to the outer root cortical cells. Others develop to a normal elongated shape and are infected; bacterial release occurs but the bacteria do not differentiate into bacteroids. The ratio of invaded to uninvaded nodules depends on the bacterial strain used. Throughout the infection process, certain events correlated with the plant defense response against pathogens can be observed: (a) the presence of polyphenolic compounds associated with the walls of infected cells and also with some parts of infection threads in the root cortex; (b) appositions on infection thread walls during the early stage of infection and also within the central tissue of infected nodules; and (c) autophagy of the plant cells that contain released bacteria. Genetic data suggest that the phenotype of TE7 is under monogenic and recessive control; this gene has been designated Mtsym1.

Differential accumulation of hydroxyproline-rich glycoproteins in bean root nodule cells infected with a wild-type strain or a C4-dicarboxylic acid mutant of Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. phaseoli

An antiserum raised against deglycosylated hydroxyproline-rich glycoproteins (HPGPs) from melon (Cucumis melo L.) was used to study the relationship between Rhizobium infection and induction of HRGPs in bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) root nodule cells infected with either the wild-type or a C4-dicarboxylic acid mutant strain of Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. phaseoli. In effective nodules, where fixation of atmospheric dinitrogen is taking place, HRGPs were found to accumulate mainly in the walls of infected cells and in peribacteroid membranes surrounding groups of bacteroids. Internal ramifications of the peribacteroid membrane were also enriched in HRGPs whereas the peribacteroid space as well as the bacteroids themselves were free of these glycoproteins. In mutant-induced root nodules, HRGPs were specifically associated with the electron-dense, laminated structures formed in plastids as a reaction to infection by this mutant. The presence of HRGPs was also detected in the host cytoplasm. The aberrant distribution of HRGPs in infected cells of mutant-induced nodules likely reflects one aspect of the altered host metabolism in relation to peribacteroid-membrane breakdown. The possibility that the antiserum used for HRGP localization may have cross-reacted with ENOD 2 gene products is discussed in relation to amino-acid sequences and sites of accumulation.

Gas diffusion pathway in nodules ofCasuarina cunninghamiana

The gas diffusion pathway in nodules was traced by vacuum infiltration with India ink or aniline blue and by electron microscopy. India ink infiltration was observed in the outermost and the innermost cortex in sliced nodules, but not in intact nodules. With aniline blue infiltration, it was observed that intercellular air spaces in the outermost and the innermost cortex were connected to those in nodule roots. No air spaces were in contact with walls of infected cells, although intercellular air spaces existed in some groups of uninfected cells within the infected zone. Infiltration with either India ink or aniline blue could not be observed in the infected zone in essentially all cases. Thus it is suggested that the discontinuity of the intercellular air spaces represents a major resistance to O2 diffusion in nodules ofCasuarina cunninghamiana.

Preliminary evidence for the involvement of suberization in infection of Casuarina

Histochemistry of infected cells in mature nodule lobes of Casuarina showed that walls of infected host cells had a ligninlike component (ultraviolet-stimulated autofluorescence and staining with auramine O, phloroglucinol staining, and resistance to degradation by hydrolytic enzymes). Cytoplasm of infected cells had a pronounced affinity for lipid stains (Sudan black B, Rose Bengal fluorescence), though walls of infected cells were less clearly stained. When nodules were digested several days in cold 50% chromic acid, the walls of infected cells and suberized host tissue (epidermis, endodermis) were not degraded. Endophyte cell wall components were also found to be resistant to chromic acid digestion. The digested tissue retained the capacity to adsorb lipid dyes. These observations suggested that walls of infected host cells had become impregnated with a suberinlike compound. The hydrophobic quality of this wall was evident when its ultrastructure was examined after en bloc staining with the polar stain KMnO4. This stain did not penetrate the walls of mature infected cells, perhaps because of the presence of aliphatic compounds similar to those found in suberin. As is known for suberizing tissue, peroxidase activity (via diaminobenzidine oxidation) was high in nodule cortical tissue cell walls. The peroxidase stain was also localized on endophyte hyphae. This report is the first instance associating a suberizationlike host reaction with infection of an actinorhizal plant.