Summary
Treatment of Allium cepa L. cellsuspension cultures with a biotic elicitor derived from the fungus Botrytis cinerea, resulted in phytoalexin synthesis. Two phytoalexins, 5-octylcyclopenta-1,3-dione and 5-hexyl-cyclopenta-1,3-dione, were accumulated in cultured onion cells. Removal of extracellular Ca2+ by the calcium chelator ethylene glycol bis(b-aminoethyl ether) N,N′-tetraacetic acid abolished the elicitor-mediated phytoalexin synthesis. The calcium channel blockers, verapamil and 8-N,N-(dimethylamino)octyl-3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoate caused similar effects, whereas the addition of the Ca2+ ionophore A23187 enhanced the accumulation of phytoalexins in the absence of the elicitor. Increase in the cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration in elicitor-treated onion cells was observed as monitored by the fluorescent calcium indicator indo-1. These observations suggest that Ca2+ acts as a second messenger in the regulation of phytoalexin synthesis in cultured onion cells.
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Abbreviations
- A23187:
-
4-bromo-calcium ionophore
- cAMP:
-
adenosine 3′,5′-cyclic monophosphate
- [Ca2+]cyt :
-
cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration
- EGTA:
-
ethylene glycol bis(b-aminoethyl ether) N,N′-tetraacetic acid
- EtOH:
-
ethanol
- Et2O:
-
diethyl ether
- fr.wt:
-
fresh weight
- HR:
-
hypersensitive response
- PIPES:
-
piperazine N,N′-bis-(2-ethanesulfonic acid)
- TMB-8:
-
[8-N,N-(dimethylamino)] octyl-3,4,5-trimethoxy-benzoate
- Tsl:
-
tsibulin
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Dmitriev, A., Djatsok, J. & Grodzinsky, D. The role of Ca2+ in elicitation of phytoalexin synthesis in cell culture of onion (Allium cepa L.). Plant Cell Reports 15, 945–948 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00231593
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00231593