Treatment of soybean tissues with elicitors results in the production of phytoalexins, one of a number of inducible plant defense reactions against microbial infections. The present study uses a beta-1,3-[(3)H]glucan elicitor fraction from Phytophthora megasperma f. sp. glycinea, a fungal pathogen of soybean, to identify putative elicitor targets in soybean tissues. Use of the radiolabeled elic...

In response to insect attack, many plants exhibit dynamic biochemical changes, resulting in the induced production of direct and indirect defenses. Elicitors present in herbivore oral secretions are believed to positively regulate many inducible plant defenses; however, little is known about the specificity of elicitor recognition in plants. To investigate the phylogenic distribution of elicito...

The presence of three genes encoding pathogenesis-related protein 1 (PR1) in cultured parsley cells and the activation of all three genes by fungal elicitor are demonstrated. In vivo dimethyl sulfate footprinting was used to identify two putative sites of protein-DNA interaction in the promoter of one PR1 gene, located around positions -240 and -130 relative to the transcription start site. The...

Jasmonate (JA) is an important plant stress hormone that induces various plant defense responses, including the biosynthesis of protective secondary metabolites. The induction of the secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene Strictosidine synthase (Str) in Catharanthus roseus (periwinkle) cells by elicitor requires JA as a second messenger. A 42 bp region in the Str promoter is both necessary and ...

An elicitor-regulated transient expression system was established in soybean protoplasts that allowed the identification of cis-regulatory elements involved in plant defense. The 5' region of an ultraviolet (UV) light-inducible and elicitor-inducible chs gene (chs1) of soybean was subjected to deletion analysis with the help of chimeric chs-nptII/gus gene constructs. This analysis delimited the...

Induction of plant resistance against pathogens by defense elicitors constitutes an attractive strategy to reduce the use of fungicides in crop protection. However, all elicitors do not systematically confer protection against pathogens. Elicitor-induced resistance (IR) thus merits to be further characterized in order to understand what makes an elicitor efficient. In this study, the oligosacch...

The ability of the resistance elicitors acibenzolar-S-methyl (ASM), β-aminobutyric acid (BABA), cis-jasmone (CJ), and a combination of the three products, to control infection of spring barley by Rhynchosporium commune was examined under glasshouse conditions. Significant control of R. commune was provided by ASM and CJ, but the largest reduction in infection was obtained with the combination o...

The presence of a specific binding site for a hepta-beta-glucoside elicitor of phytoalexin accumulation has been demonstrated in soybean microsomal membranes. A tyramine conjugate of the elicitor-active hepta-beta-glucoside was prepared and radiolabeled with 125I. The labeled hepta-beta-glucoside-tyramine conjugate was used as a ligand in binding assays with a total membrane fraction prepared f...

A role for calcium/calcium-binding proteins in a mechanism of signaling elicitor-inducible phytoalexin biosynthesis was investigated. Two classes of calcium/calmodulin antagonists, phenothiazines and naphthalenesulfonamides, inhibited sesquiterpene phytoalexin accumulation in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) cell-suspension cultures when added 1 h before elicitor. The antagonists also inhibited the ...

Roles of jasmonate and ethylene signalling and their interaction in yeast elicitor-induced biosynthesis of a phytoalexin, beta-thujaplicin, were investigated in Cupressus lusitanica cell cultures. Yeast elicitor, methyl jasmonate, and ethylene all induce the production of beta-thujaplicin. Elicitor also stimulates the biosynthesis of jasmonate and ethylene before the induction of beta-thujaplic...