Cerebroside elicitors found in diverse phytopathogens activate defense responses in rice plants

Cerebrosides A and C, compounds categorized as glycosphingolipids, were isolated in our previous study from the rice blast fungus (Magnaporthe grisea) as novel elicitors which induce the synthesis of rice phytoalexins. In this paper, these cerebroside elicitors showed phytoalexin-inducing activity when applied to plants by spray treatment and also induced the expression of pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins in rice leaves. This elicitor activity of the cerebrosides showed the structural specificity as that for the induction of phytoalexins. Ceramides prepared from the cerebrosides by removal of glucose also showed the elicitor activity even in lower level compared to the cerebrosides. In field experiments, the cerebroside elicitors effectively protected rice plants against the rice blast fungus, an economically devastating agent of disease of rice in Japan. The cerebrosides elicitors protected rice plants from other disease as well and were found to occur in a wide range of different phytopathogens, indicating that cerebrosides function as general elicitors in a wide variety of rice-pathogen interactions.     

Induced increase in chitinase activity in tomato cells (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Lycopersicon esculentum</Emphasis> L.)

The magnitude of the chitinase activity in tomato plant cells induced by elicitors is determined. It is shown that the magnitude of the enzymatic activity of cells is a function of the dimensions and concentration of the biotic elicitors.     

Effect of polysaccharide elicitors on the production of decursinol angelate in<Emphasis Type="Italic">Agelica gigas</Emphasis> Nakai root cultures

Root cultures ofAngelica gigas Nakai were found to be sensitive to elicitation by polysaccharide elicitors, such as methyl-β-cyclodextrin, glucan, carboxymethyl-β-chitin, chitosan, yeast extract and pectin. For the production of decursinol angelate, carboxymethyl-β-chitin and glucan were found to be the most efficient elicitors. The enhanced accumulation of decursinol angelate was proportional to the increase of the phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activity after the treatment with most of the elicitors. However, carboxymethyl-β-chitin treatment did not stimulate the PAL activity, despite the 1.6-fold increase in the decursinol angelate production.     

真菌诱导子在发酵工业中的应用现状及展望

真菌诱导子是一类能诱导植物和微生物产生次级代谢产物的活性物质,它一经识别,将通过信号转导途径,引起相关基因表达发生变化,从而调节次级代谢产物合成途径中相关酶的活性,诱导特定次级代谢产物的积累。近年来国内外在真菌诱导子诱导途径及机制方面进行了深入研究,同时在生物工业领域,尤其在发酵工业中的应用也引起了广泛关注。以下结合本实验室的研究工作,重点介绍了真菌诱导子在植物和微生物细胞次级代谢产物合成方面的应用现状、诱导机制和存在的问题及展望。     

真菌对铁皮石斛原球茎酶活性和胞外pH的影响

小菇属真菌制成诱导子处理铁皮石斛的原球茎,引起原球茎胞外pH分两个阶段升高,不同方法制作的诱导子对胞外pH的影响不同。诱导子还诱导原球茎苯丙氨酸解胺酶(PAL)、过氧化物酶(POD)和脂氧合酶(LOX)活性的升高。PAL和POD活性伴随着胞外pH的升高,也呈现两次升高的特点。经过诱导子两次处理的原球茎的PAL活性升高尤其明显。     

Plant Defense Response to Fungal Pathogens (II. G-Protein-Mediated Changes in Host Plasma Membrane Redox Reactions)

Elicitor preparations containing the avr5 gene products from races 4 and 2.3 of Cladosporium fulvum, and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) cells containing the resistance gene Cf5 were used to investigate the involvement of redox processes in the production of active oxygen species associated with the plant response to the fungal elicitors. Here we demonstrate that certain race-specific elicitors of C. fulvum induced an increase in ferricyanide reduction in enriched plasma membrane fractions of tomato cells. The addition of elicitors to plasma membranes also induced increases in NADH oxidase and NADH-dependent cytochrome c reductase activities, whereas ascorbate peroxidase activity was decreased. These results suggest that changes in the host plasma membrane redox processes, transferring electrons from reducing agents to oxygen, could be involved in the increased production of active oxygen species by the race-specific elicitors. Our results also show that the dephosphorylation of enzymes involved in redox reactions is responsible for the race-specific induced redox activity. The effects of guanidine nucleotide analogs and mastoparan on the activation of plasma membrane redox reactions support the role of GTP-binding proteins in the transduction of signals leading to the activation of the defense response mechanisms of tomato against fungal pathogens.     

高羊茅FaChit1基因启动子的功能分析

用含有不同长度FaChitl基因启动子区域与GUS基因融合构建植物表达载体pFaChitlP—I、pFaChitlP-Ⅱ以及pFaChitlP-Ⅲ并分别对烟草进行转化,经真菌激发子、干旱、机械损伤以及乙烯等多种胁迫处理后测定GUS活性。启动子缺失分析实验结果显示,真菌激发子对FaChitl基因启动子所介导的GUS诱导表达效果最强,而机械损伤只能微弱地诱导GL靥基因表达;FaChitl基因启动子-651bp以内的序列均能介导GUS基因的诱导表达,同时-935bp与-233bp之间的区域是该启动子响应真菌激发子、乙烯以及机械损伤胁迫所必需的。表明FaChitl启动子是一个多胁迫诱导型启动子。     

Effect of various phytoimmunocorrectors on fruit and soft fruit cultures

Catalase activity and induction of delayed chlorophyll fluorescence were shown to be the markers of plant native state. The dependence of reaction of the plant to exogenous elicitors, stimulators or inhibitors of defense system, on the age, cultivar and/or species was found. Prolonged effect of the treatment with phytoimmunocorrectors was observed. The necessity of careful choice of elicitors depending on the plant state was shown.     

Effects of Various Phytoimmunocorrectors on Fruit and Soft Fruit Cultures

Catalase activity and induction of delayed chlorophyll fluorescence were shown to be the markers of the plant native state. The dependence of reaction of the plant to exogenous elicitors, stimulators or inhibitors of the defense system, on the age, cultivar and/or species was found. Prolonged effect of the treatment with phytoimmunocorrectors was observed. The necessity of careful choice of elicitors depending on the plant state was shown.     

Induction of defense responses against Alternaria rot by different elicitors in harvested pear fruit

Pear fruit (Pyrus pyrifolia L. cv. Yali) treated by different elicitors, such as salicylic acid (SA), oxalic acid, calcium chloride, and antagonistic yeast Cryptococcus laurentii, were investigated to determine the induction of defense responses. The possible mechanism by which elicitors induced the resistance of pear fruit against postharvest disease was also evaluated. The results indicated that all the elicitors could significantly enhance defense-related enzyme activities, such as β-1,3-glucanase, phenylalanine ammonia lyase, peroxidase, and polyphenol oxidase activity, and reduce the disease incidence caused by Alternaria alternata in pear fruit (P=0.05). Among these different elicitors, SA treatment showed the best result in inducing the defense responses and reducing the decay in pear fruit.     

Cleavage of chitinous elicitors from the ectomycorrhizal fungus Hebeloma crustuliniforme by host chitinases prevents induction of K+ and Cl− release, extracellular alkalinization and H2O2 synthesis of Picea abies cells

Rapid reactions comprising efflux of K⁺ and Cl⁻, phosphorylation of a 63-kDa protein (pp63), extracellular alkalinization and synthesis of H₂O₂ are equally induced in cells of Picea abies (L.) Karst. by chitotetraose, colloidal chitin and cell wall elicitors from the ectomycorrhizal fungus Hebeloma crustuliniforme (Bull. ex Fries.) Quél. an ectomycorrhizal partner of spruce. Cleavage of fungal cell wall elicitors and of artificial chitin elicitors to monomeric and dimeric fragments by apoplasmic spruce chitinases (36-kDa class I chitinase, pI 8.0, and 28-kDa chitinase, pI 8.7; EC 3.2.1.14) equally prevented induction of these rapid reactions. Also, N-acetylglucosamine oligomers and elicitors from the fungal cell walls showed a similar dependence of their activity on the degree of polymerisation. From these results it is suggested that, during ectomycorrhiza formation, only some of the chitin-derived elicitors reach their receptors at the plant plasma membrane, initiating reactions of the hypersensitive response in the host cells. The remaining fungal elicitors will be degraded to varying extents by wall-localized chitinases of the host root, reducing the defence reactions of the plant and allowing symbiotic interactions of both organisms. Received: 6 January 1997 / Accepted: 14 March 1997     

Minimum structure of peptidoglycan required for induction of antibacterial protein synthesis in the silkworm, Bombyx mori

Various peptidoglycan fragments, different in mode of cross-linking and molecular size, were isolated, and the elicitor activity was tested for induction of antibacterial protein synthesis in larvae of Bombyx mori. Linear uncross-linked peptidoglycans from Bacillus licheniformis and Micrococcus luteus were effective elicitors, similar to the directly cross-linked peptidoglycan from B. licheniformis cell wall. The fragments of uncross-linked peptidoglycan with a sugar chain length of four or more were active elicitors, but the disaccharide unit had no elicitor activity. The minimum structure of peptidoglycan required for induction of antibacterial protein synthesis was determined to be two repeating N-acetylglucosamine-N-acetylmuramic acid units with peptide side chains.     

The Apparent Turnover of 1-Aminocyclopropane-1-Carboxylate Synthase in Tomato Cells Is Regulated by Protein Phosphorylation and Dephosphorylation

In suspension-cultured cells of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.), the activity of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase (ACC-S) rapidly increases in response to fungal elicitors. The effect of inhibitors of protein kinases and protein phosphatases on the regulation of ACC-S was studied. K-252a, an inhibitor of protein kinases, prevented induction of the enzyme by elicitors and promoted its apparent turnover in elicitor-stimulated cells, causing a 50% loss of activity within 4 to 8 min in both the presence and absence of cycloheximide. Calyculin A, an inhibitor of protein phosphatases, caused a rapid increase of ACC-S in the absence of elicitors and an immediate acceleration of the rate of ACC-S increase in elicitor-stimulated cells. In the presence of cycloheximide there was no such increase, indicating that the effect depended on protein synthesis. Cordycepin, an inhibitor of mRNA synthesis, did not prevent the elicitor-induced increase in ACC-S activity but strongly reduced the K-252a-induced decay and the calyculin A-induced increase of its activity. In vitro, ACC-S activity was not affected by K-252a and calyculin A or by treatments with protein phosphatases. These results suggest that protein phosphorylation/dephosphorylation is involved in the regulation of ACC-S, not by regulating the catalytic activity itself but by controlling the rate of turnover of the enzyme.     

Phytoalexin Elicitor Activity of Carbohydrates from Phytophthora megasperma f.sp. glycinea and Other Sources

Three unique classes of carbohydrates were isolated from the hyphal cell walls of Phytophthora megasperma f.sp. glycinea (Pmg) and compared with other substances for their activity as elicitors of the phytoalexin glyceollin in soybean tissues. Glucomannans extracted from cell walls with soybean β-1,3-endoglucanase were purified and proved to be the most active elicitors yet reported. They were approximately 10 times more active in soybean cotyledons than the heterogeneous β-glucan elicitor fraction extracted from Pmg walls. In addition, the glucomannan fraction gave race-specific elicitor activity in soybean hypocotyls. Pronase was found to be a suitable reagent for the mild extraction of glycopeptides from Pmg cell walls. All of the carbohydrates isolated from Pmg cell walls possessed significant elicitor activity, but other glucans, a glucomannan and mannan from other sources, were much less active. Chitin and chitosan, reported to function as elicitors in other plants, had low activity in soybean cotyledons. Arachidonic acid was inactive, despite its previously observed elicitor activity in potato tubers. The results indicated that, for Pmg, the carbohydrate elicitor most probably involved in the initiation of phytoalexinmediated defense during fungus infection of soybean plants is the glucomannan fraction liberated by endoglucanase.     

EGTA和La~(3 )对几种逆境诱导辣椒样半萜环化酶基因表达的影响

用钙离子螯合剂EGTA及细胞膜钙离子通道拮抗剂La3 预处理辣椒叶片 ,以破坏辣椒叶片中的钙信使系统 ,再用紫外线、CuCl2 、HgCl2 处理辣椒叶片 ,研究表明EGTA和La3 预处理未能降低CuCl2 、HgCl2 、UV诱导辣椒倍半萜环化酶活化的作用 ,EGTA预处理反而对CuCl2 、HgCl2 、UV的诱导辣椒倍半萜环化酶活性作用有一定的促进效应 .单独用EGTA处理也能诱导离体辣椒叶片表现出倍半萜环化酶活性 .NorthenBlot分析结果表明 ,EGTA能诱导辣椒倍半萜环化酶基因转录 .研究表明 ,在辣椒倍半萜环化酶基因表达过程中 ,还存在钙信使系统以外的信号传递途径 ;非生物诱发因子对倍半萜环化酶基因表达诱导作用与生物Elicitor的诱导作用在信号传递上有差异 .     

Elicitor activity of cerebroside,a sphingolipid elicitor,in cell suspension cultures of rice

Cerebrosides, compounds categorized as glycosphingolipids, were found to occur in a wide range of phytopathogens as novel elicitors and to induce the effective disease resistance for rice plants in our previous study. Here, we showed that cerebroside elicitors lead to the accumulation of phytoalexins and pathogenesis-related (PR) protein in cell suspension cultures of rice with the structural specificity similar to that for the rice whole plants. This elicitor activity of the cerebroside was greater than jasmonic acid (JA) and chitin oligomer (which is known to be an elicitor for cell suspension cultures of rice). Treatment of cell suspension cultures with cerebroside and chitin oligomer resulted in a synergetic induction of phytoalexins, suggesting that cerebroside and carbohydrate elicitors, such as glucan and chitin elicitor, enhance the defense signals of rice in vivo. Induction of phytoalexins by the treatment with cerebroside elicitor was markedly inhibited by LaCl(3) and GdCl(3), Ca(2+ )channel blockers. It is possible that Ca(2+) may be involved in the signaling pathway of elicitor activity of cerebroside.     

Induction of H2O2 and related enzymes in tomato roots infected with root knot nematode (M. javanica) by several chemical and microbial elicitors

The effects of chemical and microbial elicitors such as β-aminobutyric acid (BABA), Salicylic acid (SA), and Pseudomonas fluorecens CHAO on hydrogen peroxide generation and activity of the enzymes related to its metabolism, i.e., superoxide dismutase (SOD), guaiacol peroxidase (GPOX), and catalase (CAT) were investigated in tomato roots infected with root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne javanica). Results of this study show that treating the tomato seedlings with the above elicitors significantly reduces the nematode infection level. Among the tested elicitors, BABA has reduced the nematode galls, number of egg masses per plant and number of eggs per individual egg mass more than the others. Additionally, the amount of H₂O₂, a product of oxidative stress, SOD and GPOX specific activities were significantly increased in the elicitor treated plants in comparison to control. Our observation shows that BABA also increases the H₂O₂ accumulation and the SOD and GPOX activities more as compared with the other tested elicitors. Such increases have occurred in two phases and maximum levels of them were observed at 5 days after treatment. In contrast with the increase in SOD and GPOX activities, the CAT activity doesnot show any significant increase in treated plants as compared with the control and other tested elicitors. It can be concluded that BABA, SA, and Pseudomonas fluorescens CHAO induce oxidative stress in tomato roots through generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the enzymes related to their metabolism.     

Elicitors and suppressors of the defense response in tomato cells. Purification and characterization of glycopeptide elicitors and glycan suppressors generated by enzymatic cleavage of yeast invertase.

Cleavage of yeast invertase by alpha-chymotrypsin produced a number of small glycopeptides that were highly active as elicitors of ethylene biosynthesis and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase in suspension-cultured tomato cells. Five of these elicitors were purified and their amino acid sequence determined. They all had sequences corresponding to known sequences of yeast invertase, and all contained an asparagine known to carry a N-linked small high mannose glycan. The most active glycopeptide elicitor induced ethylene biosynthesis and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase half-maximally at a concentration of 5-10 nM. Structure-activity relationships of the peptide part were analyzed by further cleavage of a defined glycopeptide elicitor with various proteolytic enzymes. Removal of the C-terminal phenylalanine enhanced the elicitor activity, whereas removal of N-terminal arginine impaired it. A glycopeptide with the peptide part trimmed to the dipeptide arginine-asparagine was still fully active as elicitor. Glycopeptides with identical amino acid sequences were further separated into fractions differing in the oligosaccharide side chain. A given peptide had high elicitor activity when carrying a glycan with 10-12 mannosyl residues (Man10-12GlcNAc2), a 3-fold lower activity when carrying Man9GlcNAc2 and a 100-fold lower activity when carrying Man8GlcNAc2. The oligosaccharides, released by endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase H from the pure glycopeptide elicitors, acted as suppressors of elicitor-induced ethylene biosynthesis and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase activity. A series of such oligosaccharides in the size range of Man8-13GlcNAc was purified. The structure and composition of the purified oligosaccharides corresponded to the known small high mannose glycans of yeast invertase as verified by 1H NMR spectroscopy at 600 MHz. The highest suppressor activities were obtained with the oligosaccharides containing 10-12 mannosyl residues (Man10-12GlcNAc). The oligosaccharide Man8 GlcNAc was ineffective as a suppressor. Thus, the structural requirements for the free oligosaccharides to act as efficient suppressors were the same as for the oligosaccharide side chains of the glycopeptides for high elicitor activity. We propose that the glycan suppressors bind to the same recognition site as the glycopeptide elicitors without inducing a response.     

Effect of Various Elicitors on Lignan Biosynthesis in Callus Cultures of Linum austriacum

Effects of elicitors (mannan, -1,3-glucan, and ancymidol) on the activity of several key enzymes participating in lignan biosynthesis were studied in Linum austriacum L. cell cultures. The activities of L-phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, polyphenoloxydase, tyrosine ammonia-lyase, soluble phenoloxidase, and membrane-bound and soluble oxidases were assayed. The elicitors under study affected various steps in the metabolic pathway of lignan biosynthesis. Elevated enzyme activity accompanied an elicitor-enhanced synthesis of podophyllotoxins and peltatins.