Induction of biosynthetic enzymes for avenanthramides in elicitor-treated oat leaves

The accumulation of oat (Avena sativa L.) phytoalexins, avenanthramides, occurred in leaf segments treated with oligo-N-acetylchitooligosaccharides. The amount of avenanthramide A, the major oat phytoalexin, reached a maximum 36–48 h after elicitor treatment. This accumulation was preceded by a marked increase in enzyme activities of phenylpropanoid pathway members, including phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (EC 4.3.1.5), cinnamate 4-hydroxylase (EC 1.14.13.11) and 4-coumarate:CoA ligase (EC 6.2.1.12). These enzyme activities reached a maximum 6–12 h after elicitor treatment, when the avenanthramides were produced most rapidly. Both phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and 4-coumarate:CoA ligase activities decreased thereafter to undetectable levels 72 h after treatment, while cinnamate 4-hydroxylase activity showed a second increase 48 h after treatment. Among the chitooligosaccharides tested, tetra- and pentasaccharides most effectively induced these enzyme activities in a dose-dependent manner. The elicitor-induced 4-coumarate: CoA ligase accepted all hydroxycinnamic acids occurring in the avenanthramides as substrates, with the exception of avenalumic acid. These findings indicate that accumulation of the avenanthramides results from de-novo synthesis through the general phenylpropanoid pathway and that early biosynthetic enzymes function as regulatory points of carbon flow to the avenanthramides. Received: 3 December 1998 / Accepted: 27 January 1999