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Mechanism of action of the plant resistance inducer β-aminobutyric acid in Allium cepa

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Abstract

The mechanism of action of β-aminobutyric acid (BABA) as an inducer of resistance to the necrotrophic fungi Botrytis spp. in three different varieties of onion (Allium cepa) is investigated. It is shown that low concentrations of BABA are capable of inducing resistance in onion to neck rot induced by Botrytis allii and that induced by B. cinerea. By means of fluorescence microscopy it is established that treatment of the bulb of onion with BABA leads to priming defensive callose deposition, the principal mechanical barrier against penetration of the pathogen. However, the priming response was not discovered in the Sterling onion variety, which does not exhibit BABA-induced resistance to Botrytis fungi.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Cell Biology and Genetic Engineering, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, ul. Akademika Zabolotnogo 148, Kiev, 03143, Ukraine

    S. A. Polyakovskii, Zh. N. Kravchuk & A. P. Dmitriev

Authors
  1. S. A. Polyakovskii
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  2. Zh. N. Kravchuk
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  3. A. P. Dmitriev
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Correspondence to S. A. Polyakovskii.

Additional information

Original Russian Text © S.A. Polyakovskii, Zh.N. Kravchuk, A.P. Dmitriev, 2008, published in Tsitologiya i Genetika, 2008, Vol. 42, No. 6, pp. 10–14.

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Polyakovskii, S.A., Kravchuk, Z.N. & Dmitriev, A.P. Mechanism of action of the plant resistance inducer β-aminobutyric acid in Allium cepa . Cytol. Genet. 42, 369–372 (2008). https://doi.org/10.3103/S0095452708060029

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.3103/S0095452708060029

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