Quantification of rapid,transient increases in jasmonic acid in wounded plants using a monoclonal antibody

A monoclonal antibody (MAB JAH1-8-B4) for the analysis of 3R, 7R-jasmonic acid and its methyl ester is described. An IgG₁(kappa) immunoglobulin, MAB JAH1-8-B4, was used to set up a competitive enzymelinked immunoassay employing 3R, 7R-jasmonate coupled to alkaline phosphatase as tracer. The assay has a linearity range (logit/log) between 50 fmol and 50 pmol (approx. 10 pg-10 ng) of 3R, 7R-methyljasmonate, the assay standard. A procedure combining prepurification of plant extracts by solid-phase extraction, followed by high-performance liquid chromatography and quantitation has been worked out, which uses 4 g of fresh plant material and has a detection limit between 0.2 and 0.4 g of 3R, 7R-jasmonic acid (determined as its methyl ester) per kg of tissue, depending on the tissue. Internal standards of 3R, 7R-methyljasmonate, added to split samples during extraction as well as a second internal standard, 3R, 7R-methyljasmonate-[O-C³H₃], added to all samples prior to methylation, served to correct for workup losses and for the monitoring of Chromatographie separations. Using this assay, it was found that levels of jasmonic acid rise immediately and transiently in the tissues analyzed as a consequence of wounding. These data provide further and direct evidence for the hypothesis that wound-induction of the plant defense reactions is mediated by endogenous jasmonates.Abbreviations DHJA 9,10-dihydrojasmonic acid - ELISA enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay - GC-MS gas chromatography-mass spectrometry - HCy hemocyanin - HPLC high-performance liquid chromatography - JA jasmonic acid - MAB monoclonal antibody - ME methyl ester - PDA 12-oxo-phytodienoic acidThis work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Bonn, FRG, by the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie, Frankfurt, FRG (literature provision), and by the Ministerium fü Wissenschaft und Forschung des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt, Magdeburg, FRG. We thank Drs. M. H. Zenk and Z.-Q. Xia, Pharmazeutische Biologie, Universität München, FRG, for gifts of reference compounds. We are especially grateful to Dr. M. J. Müller from the same institute for GC-MS analyses.