Influence of Salicylic Acid on the Induction of Competence for H2O2 Elicitation (Comparison of Ergosterol with Other Elicitors)

Hypocotyls from etiolated cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) seedlings were gently abraded at their epidermal surface, and cut segments were used to study the rapid and transient elicitation of H2O2 by ergosterol, chitosan, mastoparan, and a polymeric fungal elicitor. Freshly abraded segments were only barely competent for any H2O2 production, but they developed this competence subsequent to abrasion. This process was enhanced by 2,6-dichloroisonicotinic acid and salicylic acid, which induced acquired resistance to fungal penetration in the epidermal cells. Enhancement of competence induction by salicylic acid was also evident for spontaneous H2O2 production and differed in degree for the various elicitors, indicating that mainly the enzyme complex producing H2O2, but also other components of the elicitation system, improved. Ergosterol, chitosan, and fungal elicitor also rendered the segments refractory to a second stimulation by the same compound, whereas mastoparan was inactive in this respect. The four elicitors also differed markedly in their ability to diminish or enhance H2O2 production by a second treatment with a different elicitor, indicating that several sites of the H2O2 elicitation system are subject to short-term regulation.     

Hydrogen peroxide from the oxidative burst is not involved in the induction of taxol biosynthesis in Taxus chinensis cells

In cell suspension cultures of Taxus chinensis, 40 mg/l fungal elicitor from Aspergillus niger and 20 microM HgCl2 elicited 5.7 and 3.6 mg/l taxol, which was a 9-fold and 5-fold increase vs. compared with the control, respectively. The fungal elicitor induced hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) accumulation but HgCl2 did not, indicating that H2O2 was not necessary for enhancement of taxol induced by elicitor. Compared with the treatment with fungal elicitor alone, exogenous catalase, ascorbic acid, diphenylene iodonium and superoxide dismutase induced a 0.45, 0.4, 0.7 and 1.4-fold H2O2, but elicited taxol production, which was 0.98, 1.2, 1.1 and 0.9-fold, respectively, vs. non-treated cells Elicitor-induced taxol production was not accorded with the amount of H2O2 production.     

Methyl jasmonate conditions parsley suspension cells for increased elicitation of phenylpropanoid defense responses.

Pre-incubation of suspension-cultured parsley cells with methyl jasmonate greatly enhances their ability to respond to fungal elicitors by secretion of coumarin derivatives. The effect is most pronounced at relatively low elicitor concentration and also observed for the incorporation of esterified hydroxycinnamic acids and of "lignin-like" polymers into the cell wall. These three responses correspond to defense reactions induced locally when a fungal pathogen attacks plant cells. In contrast, the conditioning of parsley cells by the signal substance methyl jasmonate is reminiscent of the developmental nature of systemic acquired resistance and renders the cells more effective for the elicitor-induced local defense reactions.     

Conditioning of Parsley (Petroselinum crispum L.) Suspension Cells Increases Elicitor-Induced Incorporation of Cell Wall Phenolics

The elicitor-induced incorporation of phenylpropanoid derivatives into the cell wall and the secretion of soluble coumarin derivatives (phytoalexins) by parsley (Petroselinum crispum L.) suspension cultures can be potentiated by pretreatment of the cultures with 2,6-dichloroisonicotinic acid or derivatives of salicylic acid. To investigate this phenomenon further, the cell walls and an extracellular soluble polymer were isolated from control cells or cells treated with an elicitor from Phytophthora megasperma f. sp. glycinea. After alkaline hydrolysis, both fractions from elicited cells showed a greatly increased content of 4-coumaric, ferulic, and 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, as well as 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde and vanillin. Two minor peaks were identified as tyrosol and methoxytyrosol. The pretreatment effect is most pronounced at a low elicitor concentration. Its specificity was elaborated for coumarin secretion. When the parsley suspension cultures were preincubated for 1 d with 2,6-dichloroisonicotinic, 4- or 5-chlorosalicylic, or 3,5- dichlorosalicylic acid, the cells exhibited a greatly increased elicitor response. Pretreatment with isonicotinic, salicylic, acetylsalicylic, or 2,6-dihydroxybenzoic acid was less efficient in enhancing the response, and some other isomers were inactive. This increase in elicitor response was also observed for the above-mentioned monomeric phenolics, which were liberated from cell walls upon alkaline hydrolysis and for "lignin-like" cell wall polymers determined by the thioglycolic acid method. It was shown for 5-chlorosalicylic acid that conditioning most likely improves the signal transduction leading to the activation of genes encoding phenylalanine ammonia lyase and 4-coumarate: coenzyme A ligase. The conditioning thus sensitizes the parsley suspension cells to respond to lower elicitor concentrations. If a similar mechanism were to apply to whole plants treated with 2,6-dichloroisonicotinic acid, a known inducer of systemic acquired resistance, one can hypothesize that fungal pathogens might be recognized more readily and effectively.     

Signaling Effects of Nitric Oxide, Salicylic Acid, and Reactive Oxygen Species on Isoeuphpekinensin Accumulation in Euphorbia pekinensis Suspension Cells Induced by an Endophytic Fungal Elicitor

Nitric oxide (NO), salicylic acid (SA), and reactive oxygen species (ROS) are important signal molecules that mediate plant resistance reactions and play important roles in secondary metabolism. To research the signal transduction pathway of the endophytic fungal elicitor from Fusarium sp. E5 promoting secondary metabolism in Euphorbia pekinensis suspension cells, the changes in NO, SA, ROS, and isoeuphpekinensin contents in the cells were investigated after elicitor addition to the cell suspension culture. The elicitor did not change H₂O₂ or O₂ ^? contents notably, whereas NO and SA contents were enhanced. Both the NO donator sodium nitroprusside (SNP) and SA enhanced isoeuphpekinensin content in the absence of the fungal elicitor, whereas the NO scavenger cPTIO and SA biosynthesis inhibitor cinnamic acid (CA) inhibited isoeuphpekinensin accumulation in the presence of the elicitor. In addition, cPTIO inhibited SA production induced by the fungal elicitor. CA did not inhibit NO production, but it significantly inhibited isoeuphpekinensin accumulation. The results demonstrated that in Euphorbia pekinensis suspension cells the endophytic fungal elicitor induced increased NO content and SA production, which promoted isoeuphpekinensin accumulation. ROS are clearly not involved in the endophytic fungus–host interaction signaling pathway.     

An early salicylic acid-, pathogen- and elicitor-inducible tobacco glucosyltransferase: role in compartmentalization of phenolics and H2O2 metabolism.

Treatment of tobacco cell suspension cultures with a fungal elicitor of defense responses resulted in an early accumulation of the phenylpropanoid glucosyltransferase TOGT, along with the rapid synthesis and secretion of scopolin, the glucoside of scopoletin. Elicitor-triggered extracellular accumulation of the aglycone scopoletin and of free caffeic and ferulic acids could only be revealed in the presence of diphenylene iodonium, an inhibitor of extracellular H2O2 production. Our results strongly support a role for TOGT in the elicitor-stimulated production of transportable phenylpropanoid glucosides, followed by the release of free antioxidant phenolics into the extracellular medium and subsequent H2O2 scavenging.     

Involvement of nitric oxide in elicitor-induced defense responses and secondary metabolism of Taxus chinensis cells

This work was to characterize the generation of nitric oxide (NO) in Taxus chinensis cells induced by a fungal elicitor extracted from Fusarium oxysporum mycelium and the signal role of NO in the elicitation of plant defense responses and secondary metabolite accumulation. The fungal elicitor at 10-100 microg/ml (carbohydrate equivalent) induced a rapid and dose-dependent NO production in the Taxus cell culture, which exhibited a biphasic time course, reaching the first plateau within 1 h and the second within 12 h of elicitor treatment. The NO donor sodium nitroprusside potentiated elicitor-induced H2O2 production and cell death but had little influence on elicitor-induced membrane K+ efflux and H+ influx (medium alkalinization). NO inhibitors Nomega-nitro-L-arginine and 2-phenyl-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-imidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide partially blocked the elicitor-induced H2O2 production and membrane ion fluxes. Moreover, the NO inhibitors suppressed elicitor-induced activation of phenylalanine ammonium-lyase and accumulation of diterpenoid taxanes (paclitaxel and baccatin III). These results suggest that NO plays a signal role in the elicitor-induced responses and secondary metabolism activities in the Taxus cells.     

茉莉酸甲酯与真菌诱导物、水杨酸组合对红豆杉细胞中紫杉醇含量的影响

比较了茉莉酸甲酯与真菌诱导物、水杨酸组合对红豆杉细胞几个抗病相关指标（POD、CAT活力、H2O2含量）及紫杉醇含量的影响,3种信号分子的组合对POD、CAT、H2O2及紫杉醇含量的影响是不一致的,MJ单独添加,MJ与SA联合作用以及MJ与F5联合作用都可使POD活力增加,且12h后H2O2含量均升高,约在48h达到高峰,为对照的2倍左右,但72h后,MJ单独添加和MJ与SA联合作用组中H2O2含量变化不大,F5与MJ联合作用则使H2O2含量持续比对照高。MJ单独添加使CAT酶活在144h后才较对照低,F5、SA的加入都可使CAT酶活下降,SA的作用更显著。说明三者的诱导途径并不完全一样,以SA和MJ联合添加对紫杉醇合成的促进作用最大,含量达到细胞干重的0．04％。     

Hydrogen Peroxide from the Oxidative Burst Is Neither Necessary Nor Sufficient for Hypersensitive Cell Death Induction, Phenylalanine Ammonia Lyase Stimulation, Salicylic Acid Accumulation, or Scopoletin Consumption in Cultured Tobacco Cells Treated with Elicitin

H(2)O(2) from the oxidative burst, cell death, and defense responses such as the production of phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), salicylic acid (SA), and scopoletin were analyzed in cultured tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) cells treated with three proteinaceous elicitors: two elicitins (alpha-megaspermin and beta-megaspermin) and one glycoprotein. These three proteins have been isolated from Phytophthora megasperma H20 and have been previously shown to be equally efficient in inducing a hypersensitive response (HR) upon infiltration into tobacco leaves. However, in cultured tobacco cells these elicitors exhibited strikingly different biological activities. beta-Megaspermin was the only elicitor that caused cell death and induced a strong, biphasic H(2)O(2) burst. Both elicitins stimulated PAL activity similarly and strongly, while the glycoprotein caused only a slight increase. Only elicitins induced SA accumulation and scopoletin consumption, and beta-megaspermin was more efficient. To assess the role of H(2)O(2) in HR cell death and defense response expression in elicitin-treated cells, a gain and loss of function strategy was used. Our results indicated that H(2)O(2) was neither necessary nor sufficient for HR cell death, PAL activation, or SA accumulation, and that extracellular H(2)O(2) was not a direct cause of intracellular scopoletin consumption.     

Cryptogein-induced initial events in tobacco BY-2 cells: pharmacological characterization of molecular relationship among cytosolic Ca(2+) transients, anion efflux and production of reactive oxygen species

Ion fluxes and the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) are early events that follow elicitor treatment or microbial infection. However, molecular mechanisms for these responses as well as their relationship have been controversial and still largely unknown. We here simultaneously monitored the temporal sequence of initial events at the plasma membrane in suspension-cultured tobacco cells (cell line BY-2) in response to a purified proteinaceous elicitor, cryptogein, which induced hypersensitive cell death. The elicitor induced transient rise in cytosolic Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)](cyt)) showing two distinct peaks, followed by biphasic (rapid/transient and slow/prolonged) Cl(-) efflux and H(+) influx. Pharmacological analyses suggested that the two phases of the [Ca(2+)](cyt) response correspond to Ca(2+) influx through the plasma membrane and an inositol 1,4,5-trisphophate-mediated release of Ca(2+) from intracellular Ca(2+) stores, respectively, and the [Ca(2+)](cyt) transients and the Cl(-) efflux were mutually dependent events regulated by protein phosphorylation. The elicitor also induced production of ROS including (*)O(2)(-) and H(2)O(2), which initiated after the [Ca(2+)](cyt) rise and required Ca(2+) influx, Cl(-) efflux and protein phosphorylation. An inhibitor of NADPH oxidase, diphenylene iodonium, completely inhibited the elicitor-induced production of (*)O(2)(-) and H(2)O(2), but did not affect the [Ca(2+)](cyt) transients. These results suggest that cryptogein-induced plasma membrane Ca(2+) influx is independent of ROS, and NADPH oxidase dependent ROS production is regulated by these series of ion fluxes.     

Defense Responses in Infected and Elicited Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) Hypocotyl Segments Exhibiting Acquired Resistance

Segments from dark-grown cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) hypocotyls were used to study defense reactions occurring upon fungal infection and induced by elicitors in the same tissue. The segments were rendered resistant to infection by Colletotrichum lagenarium either by growing the seedlings in the presence of dichloroisonicotinic acid (DCIA) or by preincubation of the cut segments with DCIA, salicylic acid (SA), or 5-chlorosalicylic acid (5CSA). This resistance appears to be due mainly to inhibition of fungal penetration into epidermal cells. In the resistant hypocotyl segments, the fungus induced, at the time of attempted penetration, an increased deposition of phenolics, which were visualized by autofluorescence. These phenolics were located mainly in the epidermal cell wall around and in the emerging papillae below appressoria and were quantified either as lignin-like polymers by the thioglycolic acid method or as 4-OH-benzaldehyde, 4-OH-benzoic, or 4-coumaric acid liberated upon treatment with alkali at room temperature. Pretreatment with DCIA, SA, and 5CSA induced little chitinase activity, but this activity greatly increased in resistant tissues upon subsequent infection. These observations indicate that resistance is associated with an improved perception of the pathogen stimulus resulting in the enhanced induction of diverse defense reactions. When the cut segments were pretreated with DCIA, SA, or 5CSA and then split and incubated with chitosan fragments, the deposition of cell wall phenolics was also enhanced. These pretreated and split segments also exhibited an increase in the rapid production of activated oxygen species induced by an elicitor preparation from Phytophthora megasperma f. sp. Glya. Pretreatment of the segments with methyl jasmonate neither induced resistance nor enhanced induction of cell wall phenolics upon fungal infection, although we observed in the corresponding split segments some increase in chitosan-induced cell wall phenolics and in elicitor-induced rapid production of activated oxygen species.     

Early elicitor-induced events in chickpea cells: functional links between oxidative burst, sequential occurrence of extracellular alkalinisation and acidification, K+/H+ exchange and defence-related gene activation

Elicitation of cultured chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) cells stimulates a signal transduction pathway leading to several rapid responses: (1) oxidative burst, (2) extracellular alkalinisation, (3) extracellular acidification, (4) transient K+ efflux, and (5) activation of defence related genes all within 2 hours. Induced genes are encoding acidic and basic chitinases, a thaumatin-like protein and isoflavone reductase. All these elicitor-induced responses are inhibited by the Ser/Thr protein kinase inhibitor staurosporine and the anion channel blocker anthracene-9-carboxylic acid but stimulated by the Ser/Thr protein phosphatase 2A inhibitor cantharidin. The oxidative burst leads to a transient extracellular H2O2 accumulation which seems to be preceded by O2- production, indicating dismutation of O2- to H2O2. The oxidative burst is accompanied by transient alkalinisation of the culture medium which is followed by long-lasting extracellular acidification. An 80 percent inhibition of the alkalinisation after complete inhibition of the H2O2 burst with diphenylene iodonium indicates that the elicitor induced increase of extracellular pH is mainly based on a proton consumption for O2-dismutation. A simultaneous deactivation of the plasma membrane H+-ATPase during oxidative burst and extracellular alkalinisation is also suggested. The elicitor-stimulated extracellular acidification is inhibited by the plasma membrane H+-ATPase inhibitor N, N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide assuming a reactivation of the H+-ATPase 25 min after elicitation. Extracellular acidification seems not to be necessary for elicitor-induced activation of defence related genes. Opposite modulation of K+ and proton fluxes after elicitation and/or treatment with the H+-ATPase effectors fusicoccin or N, N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide indicate that the elicitor induced transient K+ efflux is regulated by a K+/H+ exchange reaction.     

Nitric oxide mediates the fungal elicitor-induced puerarin biosynthesis in Pueraria thomsonii Benth. suspension cells through a salicylic acid (SA)-dependent and a jasmonic acid (JA)-dependent signal pathway

Higher plants constitute one of our most important natural resources, which provide not only foodstuffs, fibers, and woods, but also many chemicals, such as flavorings, dyes, and pharmaceuticals. Although plants are renewable resources, some species are b…     

Elicitor and calatalse activity of conidia suspensions of various strains of Magnaporthe grisea in suspension-cultured cells of rice

A conidia suspension of Magnaporthe grisea carried elicitor activity that induced the expression of defense-related genes and the production of H(2)O(2) in suspension-cultured rice cells. The levels of H(2)O(2) produced were dependent on fungal isolates and were correlated with the catalase activity in the supernatant fraction of each conidia suspension, not with gene-for-gene interactions.     

Involvement of NADPH oxidase in hydrogen peroxide accumulation by Aspergillus niger elicitor-induced Taxus chinensis cell cultures

After determining that hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) accumulation induced by a fungal elicitor from Aspergillus niger was from the superoxide dismutase-catalyzed dismutation of superoxide radical, the site of H2O2 generation in cell suspension cultures of Taxus chinensis was studied. The results showed that 90% and 10% of the elicitor-induced H2O2 accumulation respectively appeared in intracellular and extracellular fractions of cells, and that the elicitor-induced H2O2 accumulation in protoplasts and plasma membranes was similar to that in intact cells, indicating that the site of H2O2 accumulation was plasma membranes but not in extracellular fraction of Taxus cells. The H2O2 forming enzyme was also investigated. The elicitor-induced H2O2 accumulation in intact cells was not changed by loss of apoplastic peroxidase (POD) by the washing, and the H2O2 accumulation in plasma membranes was inhibited by the mammalian neutrophil NAD(P)H oxidase inhibitor diphenylene iodonium (DPI), but was slightly affected by exogenous POD and its inhibitor. Furthermore, in plasma membranes, the H2O2 accumulation was more significantly enhanced by NADPH than by NADH, and the former was more obviously decreased by DPI than the latter. The present results show that NADPH oxidase in plasma membranes is involved in H2O2 accumulation in fungal elicitor-induced Taxus chinensis cell cultures.     

Stimulation of de novo synthesis of L-phenylalanine ammonia-lyase in relation to phytoalexin accumulation in Colletotrichum lindemuthianum elicitor-treated cell suspension cultures of french bean (Phaseolus vulgaris).

(1) The regulation of the accumulation of the isoflavonoid-derived phytoalexin phaseollin in cell suspension cultures of Dwarf French Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris/ has been investigated. (2) An elicitor preparation from cell walls of Colletotrichum lindemuthianum, the causal agent of anthracnose disease of French bean, caused a marked accumulation of phaseollin in the cultures. The elicitor induced phaseollin accumulation to a level of 60% that obtained with the artificial elicitor autoclaved ribonuclease A and was maximally active at a concentration (weight basis) of at least 50 times lower than required for maximal response to ribonuclease. (3) Elicitor preparations from cell walls of Phytophthora megasperma var. sojae, a fungal pathogen of soybean, and Botrytis cinerea, the common grey mould, were much less effective than the C. lindemuthianum wall-released elicitor. (4) There was a marked but transient increase in the extractable activity of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, the enzyme catalysing the first reaction in the biosynthesis of phaseollin from L-phenylalanine, in response to the elicitor from C. lindemuthianum. (5) Comparative density labelling with 2H from 2H2O indicated that the elicitor stimulates de novo synthesis of phenylalanine ammonie findings provide the basis of a scheme for elicitor induction of phytoalexin accumulation.     

Induction of defense responses in cultured parsley cells by plant cell wall fragments

Cell suspension cultures of parsley (Petroselinum crispum) accumulated coumarin phytoalexins and exhibited increased β-1,3-glucanase activity when treated with either a purified α-1,4-d-endopolygalacturonic acid lyase from Erwinia carotovora or oligogalacturonides solubilized from parsley cell walls by endopolygalacturonic acid lyase. Coumarin accumulation induced by the plant cell wall elicitor was preceded by increases in the activities of phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), 4-coumarate:CoA ligase (4CL) and S-adenosyl-l-methionine:xanthotoxol O-methyltransferase (XMT). The time courses for the changes in these three enzyme activities were similar to those observed in cell cultures treated with a fungal glucan elicitor. The plant cell wall elicitor was found to act synergistically with the fungal glucan elicitor in the induction of coumarin phytoalexins. As much as a 10-fold stimulation in coumarin accumulation above the calculated additive response was observed in cell cultures treated with combinations of plant and fungal elicitors. The synergistic effect was also observed for the induction of PAL, 4CL, and XMT activities. These results demonstrate that plant cell wall elicitors induce at least two distinct biochemical responses in parsley cells and further support the role of oligogalacturonides as important regulators of plant defense.     

Plasma Membrane Redox Enzyme Is Involved in the Synthesis of O2- and H2O2 by Phytophthora Elicitor-Stimulated Rose Cells

An elicitor prepared from the autoclaved cell walls of Phytophthora sp. induced O2- generation and H2O2 accumulation by cultured cells of Rosa damascena Mill. cv Gloire de Guilan. N,N-Diethyldithiocarbamate, a superoxide dismutase inhibitior, blocked H2O2 accumulation and caused a dramatic accumulation of O2- by elicitor-treated rose cells. In the absence of N,N-diethyldithiocarbamate no detectable O2- was accumulated. Diphenyleneiodonium, quinacrine, pyridine, and imidazole, inhibitors of the mammalian neutrophil NADPH oxidase responsible for the generation of O2- during phagocytosis, inhibited O2- generation by elicitor-treated rose cells. Diphenyleneiodonium also inhibited NADH-dependent O2- production by plasma membranes isolated from rose cells. None of the four compounds inhibited the peroxidase activity in the cell-suspension medium. These results demonstrate that elicitor-stimulated accumulation of H2O2 comes only from superoxide dismutase-catalyzed dismutation of O2-. The data are inconsistent with the hypothesis that the synthesis of O2- is catalyzed by extracellular peroxidase and suggest that the enzyme responsible for the synthesis of O2- by elicitor-treated rose cells might be similar to the mammalian neutrophil NADPH oxidase.