The enzyme NCS [(S)-norcoclaurine synthase; EC 4.2.1.78] found in the common meadow rue, Thalictrum flavum, and other plant species, is involved in the biosynthesis of BIAs (benzylisoquinoline alkaloids). This group of plant secondary metabolites comprises pharmacologically-active compounds such as morphine and codeine. NCS catalyses the condensation of 4-HPAA (4-hydroxyphenylacetaldehyde) and ...

In grape cell cultures cv. Gamay Fréaux var. Teinturier, Ca was shown to decrease pigmentation through the inhibition of anthocyanin biosynthesis, while stimulating stilbenoids accumulation. Because methyl jasmonate (MeJA) is a well-known inducer secondary metabolism in cells, and antagonizes its stimulatory effect over several enzymes core metabolic branches, present study we hypothesized that...

Biological control of plant diseases by the application of antagonistic micro-organisms to the plant phyllosphere is only marginally understood. Suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) was used for the identification of genes expressed after application of the non-pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens Bk3 to the phyllosphere of the apple scab-susceptible cultivar Malus domestica cv. ...

A novel PR10 gene (ZmPR10.1) was isolated from maize and its expression and function were compared with the previous ZmPR10. ZmPR10.1 shares 89.8% and 85.7% identity to ZmPR10 at the nucleotide and amino acid sequence level, respectively. ZmPR10 and ZmPR10.1 were mainly expressed in root tissue with low expression in other tissues. ZmPR10.1 had significantly lower expression than ZmPR10 in all ...

Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades play an important role in mediating stress responses in eukaryotic organisms. However, little is known about the role of MAPKs in modulating the interaction of defense pathways activated by biotic and abiotic factors. In this study, we have isolated and functionally characterized a stress-responsive MAPK gene (OsMAPK5) from rice. OsMAPK5 is a sin...

Sharp eyespot, caused mainly by the necrotrophic fungus Rhizoctonia cerealis, is a destructive disease in hexaploid wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). In Arabidopsis, certain cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenases (CADs) have been implicated in monolignol biosynthesis and in defense response to bacterial pathogen infection. However, little is known about CADs in wheat defense responses to necrotrophic or s...