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Metabolic Profiling of Zingiber zerumbet Following Pythium myriotylum Infection: Investigations on the Defensive Role of the Principal Secondary Metabolite, Zerumbone

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Abstract

Induced biosynthesis of bioactive secondary metabolites constitutes one of the mechanisms of plant basal innate immunity to fungal infection. Metabolic changes were studied in rhizomes of Zingiber zerumbet, a wild congener of ginger, after infection with soft rot-causative necrotrophic phytopathogen, Pythium myriotylum, by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. Infection triggered a considerable alteration in the relative content of zerumbone and α-caryophyllene (humulene) with enhancement in zerumbone content (81.59 %) and that of α-caryophyllene (11.91 %) compared to 9.97 and 1.11 %, respectively, in uninfected rhizomes. While zerumbone is the principal secondary metabolite in Z. zerumbet, α-caryophyllene is its immediate precursor. Principal component analysis (PCA) identified the correlations between metabolite changes in Z. zerumbet rhizomes and P. myriotylum infection. Radial diffusion assay with zerumbone indicated a concentration-dependent P. myriotylum growth inhibition with 93.75 % inhibition observed at 700 μg and 50 % maximal effective concentration (EC50) value of 206 μg. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis revealed that the mechanistic basis of zerumbone’s antagonistic action on P. myriotylum growth involved the induction of aberrant morphology including severe hyphal deformities and membrane disruption. Results are discussed highlighting the critical role played by sesquiterpenoid zerumbone in affording resistance in Z. zerumbet and could expedite the development of appropriate strategies for biocontrol of Pythium spp., thus reducing the usage of broad-spectrum fungicides.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, for the research funding (No. SR/FT/LS-052/2009) received. KD and GC acknowledge the research fellowship received from Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD), Government of India. PP thanks the Director of JNTBGRI, Kerala, India, for the research facilities extended. We gratefully acknowledge RGCB and IISR for providing us with P. myriotylum strain (RGCBN14) and rhizome samples, respectively.

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  1. School of Biotechnology, National Institute of Technology Calicut, Calicut, 673 601, India

    D. Keerthi, C. Geethu & R. Aswati Nair

  2. Biotechnology and Bioinformatics Division, Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute, Palode, Thiruvanathapuram, 695 562, India

    Padmesh Pillai

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  1. D. Keerthi
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Keerthi, D., Geethu, C., Nair, R.A. et al. Metabolic Profiling of Zingiber zerumbet Following Pythium myriotylum Infection: Investigations on the Defensive Role of the Principal Secondary Metabolite, Zerumbone. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 172, 2593–2603 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-013-0707-z

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