Gene Activation by Cytoplasmic Acidification in Suspension-Cultured Rice Cells in Response to the Potent Elicitor, N-Acetylchitoheptaose
Open Access
- 1 December 1998
- journal article
- Published by Scientific Societies in Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions®
- Vol. 11 (12) , 1167-1174
- https://doi.org/10.1094/mpmi.1998.11.12.1167
Abstract
N-Acetylchitoheptaose strongly induces a set of defense reactions in suspension-cultured rice cells including cytoplasmic acidification (K. Kuchitsu, Y. Yazaki, K. Sakano, and N. Shibuya, Plant Cell Physiol. 38:1012-1018, 1997) and the accumulation of mRNAs for two rapidly activated genes, EL2 and EL3 (E. Minami, K. Kuchitsu, D.-Y. He, H. Kouchi, N. Midoh, Y. Ohtsuki, and N. Shibuya, Plant Cell Physiol. 37:563-567, 1996), as well as phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), chitinase and β-1,3-glucanase. Treatment of cells with propionic acid resulted in the accumulation of the mRNAs for EL2, EL3, and PAL in a manner similar to the accumulation induced by N-acetylchitoheptaose. Concomitantly, there was a rapid decrease in the cytoplasmic pH as detected with in vivo 31P-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Interestingly, K-252a, a potent inhibitor of Ser/Thr protein kinases, strongly inhibited gene induction by N-acetylchitoheptaose, but showed much less inhibition of gene induction caused by propionic acid. Calyculin A, a protein phosphatase inhibitor, induced mRNA accumulations for EL2, EL3 and PAL, with concomitant acidification of the cytoplasm. On the other hand, chitinase and β-glucanase mRNA levels did not change after addition of propionic acid or calyculin A. Treatment of the cells with propionic acid did not induce the production of reactive oxygen species. These results strongly suggest that cytoplasmic acidification at the early stage of elicitor action could be a key step in the signal transduction events leading to the expression of elicitor-responsive genes. A hypothetical model of elicitor signal pathway is proposed based on these results.Keywords
This publication has 44 references indexed in Scilit:
- Localization and Binding Characteristics of a High-Affinity Binding Site for N--Acetylchitooligosaccharide Elicitor in the Plasma Membrane from Suspension-Cultured Rice Cells Suggest a Role as a Receptor for the Elicitor Signal at the Cell SurfacePlant and Cell Physiology, 1996
- EPR evidence for generation of hydroxyl radical triggered byN-acetylchitooligosaccharide elicitor and a protein phosphatase inhibitor in suspension-cultured rice cellsProtoplasma, 1995
- H2O2 from the oxidative burst orchestrates the plant hypersensitive disease resistance responseCell, 1994
- Protein phosphatase inhibitors activate anti‐fungal defence responses of soybean cotyledons and cell culturesThe Plant Journal, 1994
- Identification of a novel high‐affinity binding site for N‐acetylchitooligosaccharide elicitor in the membrane fraction from suspension‐cultured rice cellsFEBS Letters, 1993
- Specific perception of subnanomolar concentrations of chitin fragments by tomato cells: induction of extracellular alkalinization, changes in protein phosphorylation, and establishment of a refractory stateThe Plant Journal, 1993
- Induction of protein phosphorylation, protein synthesis, immediate‐early‐gene expression and cellular proliferation by intracellular pH modulationEuropean Journal of Biochemistry, 1993
- Effect of Elicitation and Changes in Extracellular pH on the Cytoplasmic and Vacuolar pH of Suspension-Cultured Soybean CellsPlant Physiology, 1992
- Effect of Elicitors on the Plasmamembrane of Petunia hybrida Cell SuspensionsPlant Physiology, 1991
- K‐252a inhibits the response of tomato cells to fungal elicitors in vivo and their microsomal protein kinase in vitroFEBS Letters, 1990