Salicylates of Intact Salix myrsinifolia Plantlets Do Not Undergo Rapid Metabolic Turnover

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Salicylates, the main phenolic glucosides of northern willow (Salix spp.), play an important role in plant-herbivore interactions. Salicylates are labile metabolites that are thought to undergo metabolic turnover. Salicylates are synthesized from phenylalanine (Phe) via the shikimate pathway. 2-Aminoindan-2-phosphonic acid (AIP), a strong inhibitor of Phe ammonia-lyase (EC 4.3.1.5), was used to block the biosynthesis of salicylates. The aim of this study was to investigate long-term turnover of salicylates in intact micropropagated plantlets of Salix myrsinifolia Salisb. The biosynthesis of salicylates was inhibited efficiently but not completely by 30 μm 2-aminoindan-2-phosphonic acid. Inhibitor treatment, aside from leading to a high accumulation of Phe, also led to an increase in tyrosine and tryptophan, indicating that 2-aminoindan-2-phosphonic acid may also inhibit enzymes other than Phe ammonia-lyase. Salicylates were shown to be unexpectedly stable metabolites that did not undergo marked metabolic turnover in intact plants; in leaves no significant turnover occurred, and in the stems the five salicylates studied were turned over slowly, with half-lives of 11 to 25 d. The total amount of salicylate in mature shoots decreased only 0.6% per day.