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Role of ethylene and phospholipid-mediated signalling in mycotoxin-induced programmed cell death in the apical part of maize roots

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Abstract

Maize (Zea mays L. cv. Thermo) root segments were treated for 24 h with 100 μg mL−1 of zearalenone and its derivatives α- and β-zearalenol. The mycotoxin treatment resulted in cell death which was evident by Evans blue staining and was accompanied by DNA release/fragmentation. Mycotoxin-induced programmed cell death (MPCD) was abolished by sub-micromolar concentrations of caspase-specific peptide inhibitors pointing to a MPCD mechanism similar to animal apoptosis. Here we demostrate that exogenous ethylene and ethylene precursor (aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid; ACC) substantially blocked MPCD while the ethylene biosynthesis inhibitor aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG) did not markedly reduce cell death rate. In addition, Western blot analyses revealed that MPCD was induced via ethylene-regulated expression of DAD1 protein. Pre-treatment of root segments with inhibitors of phospholipase C and D signalling pathway intermediates significantly reduced the rate of MPCD. Treatment with mastoparan and lyso-phosphatidic acid (L-PA), G protein activator and analogue of the lipid second messenger phosphatidic acid (PA), respectively, stimulated cell death. Furthermore, application of lipid and protein kinase inhibitors (wortmannin, Go 6983, staurosporine) also reduced cell death, indicating that various kinases are a part of signalling cascade involved in MPCD. Taken together, the results presented in this paper provide direct evidence that MPCD exhibits formal apoptotic-like features, involves caspase-mediated pathway and is regulated via ethylene and phospholipid signal transduction pathways.

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  1. Plant Science and Biodiversity Centre, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, SK-84523, Bratislava, Slovakia

    Vladimír Repka, Roderik Fiala & Ján Pavlovkin

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  1. Vladimír Repka
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  2. Roderik Fiala
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  3. Ján Pavlovkin
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Correspondence to Ján Pavlovkin.

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Repka, V., Fiala, R. & Pavlovkin, J. Role of ethylene and phospholipid-mediated signalling in mycotoxin-induced programmed cell death in the apical part of maize roots. Biologia 72, 378–387 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1515/biolog-2017-0040

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