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Effect of coumarin and xanthotoxin on mitochondrial structure, oxygen uptake, and succinate dehydrogenase activity in onion root cells

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Abstract

At concentrations in which they occur on the plant surface and retard mitosis, coumarin and xanthotoxin lowered uptake of oxygen (by 60 and 30%, respectively) by meristematic cells ofAllium cepa root tips. They caused changes in the structure of the mitochondrial matrix to become dense, and protrusions of mitochondrial membranes were visible parallelling their hypertrophy, indicating alteration in the structure and physiology of these organelles. Coumarin and, to a lesser extent, xanthotoxin increased succinate dehydrogenase production in mitochondria and also in the cytoplasm, indicating changes in membrane permeability. Changes in oxygen uptake and mitochondrial structure, in addition to the retardation of mitosis, may be the reason these compounds act as allelochemicals after they have been removed from the plant surface and reach the root meristem.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Anatomy and Cytology, Warsaw University, Krakowskie Przedmiescie, 26-28, 00-927, Warszawa, Poland

    Ewa Kupidlowska & Katarzyna Dobrzynska

  2. Department of Plant Physiology II, Warsaw University, Krakowskie Przedmiescie, 26-28, 00-927, Warszawa, Poland

    Eugeniusz Parys

  3. Department of Chemistry, Trent University, K9J 7B8, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada

    Alicja M. Zobel

Authors
  1. Ewa Kupidlowska
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  2. Katarzyna Dobrzynska
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  3. Eugeniusz Parys
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  4. Alicja M. Zobel
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Kupidlowska, E., Dobrzynska, K., Parys, E. et al. Effect of coumarin and xanthotoxin on mitochondrial structure, oxygen uptake, and succinate dehydrogenase activity in onion root cells. J Chem Ecol 20, 2471–2480 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02036184

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02036184

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