The expression of NMT (3-aminomethylindole/N-methyl-3-aminomethylindole N-methyltransferase; EC 2.1.1.), involved in the biosynthesis of the indole alkaloid gramine, was investigated in aphid-infested barley (Hordeum vulgare L). NMT is induced by methyl jasmonate and it was hypothesized that the gene would be more strongly upregulated in aphid-resistant barley. We examined the effects of feeding by three aphid species; Russian wheat aphid (Diuraphis noxia Mordvilko), rose-grain aphid (Metopolophium dirhodum Walker) and bird cherry-oat aphid (Rhopalosiphum padi L.) on barley genotypes with varying resistance characteristics. The barley genotypes selected included the cultivar Libra, known to upregulate gramine after feeding by Schizaphis graminum. Infestation by R. padi and M. dirhodum resulted in higher NMT expression in the doubled haploid line 5172-28:4 (DH28:4), which has moderate resistance against R. padi, but not in other aphid barley combinations. None of the aphid plant combinations had however increased gramine, suggesting that aphid-induction of gramine is specific to S. graminum. The increased abundance of NMT transcript in aphid-infested DH28:4 did not lead to higher amounts of NMT protein or NMT enzyme activity, neither did 200 times upregulation of NMT transcript in cotyledons incubated with methyl jasmonate, illustrating that even large differences measured at transcript level may have no metabolic consequences. Drought stress or treatments with abscisic acid did lead to higher gramine concentrations in several barley cultivars, but without any concomitant increase of NMT transcripts. Thus, the regulation of the biosynthetic pathway to gramine at transcript and metabolite level diverges during two different stress conditions.

Background: Plant Receptor-like/Pelle kinases (RLK) are a group of onserved signalling components that regulate developmental programs and esponses to biotic and abiotic stresses. One of the largest RLK groups s formed by the Domain of Unknown Function 26 (DUF26) RLKs, also called ysteine-rich Receptor-like Kinases (CRKs), which have been suggested to lay important roles in the regulation of pathogen defence and rogrammed cell death. Despite the vast number of RLKs present in lants, however, only a few of them have been functionally haracterized. esults: We examined the transcriptional regulation of all Arabidopsis RKs by ozone (O(3)), high light and pathogen/ elicitor reatment-conditions known to induce the production of reactive oxygen pecies (ROS) in various subcellular compartments. Several CRKs were ranscriptionally induced by exposure to O(3) but not by light stress. (3) induces an extracellular oxidative burst, whilst light stress leads o ROS production in chloroplasts. Analysis of publicly available icroarray data revealed that the transcriptional responses of the CRKs o O(3) were very similar to responses to microbes or athogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). Several mutants altered n hormone biosynthesis or signalling showed changes in basal and (3)-induced transcriptional responses. onclusions: Combining expression analysis from multiple treatments with utants altered in hormone biosynthesis or signalling suggest a model in hich O(3) and salicylic acid (SA) activate separate signaling pathways hat exhibit negative crosstalk. Although O(3) is classified as an biotic stress to plants, transcriptional profiling of CRKs showed trong similarities between the O(3) and biotic stress responses.

Plants are simultaneously exposed to abiotic and biotic hazards. Here, we show that local and systemic acclimation in Arabidopsis thaliana leaves in response to excess excitation energy (EEE) is associated with cell death and is regulated by specific redox changes of the plastoquinone (PQ) pool. These redox changes cause a rapid decrease of stomatal conductance, global induction of ASCORBATE PEROXIDASE2 and PATHOGEN RESISTANCE1, and increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and ethylene that signals through ETHYLENE INSENSITIVE2 (EIN2). We provide evidence that multiple hormonal/ROS signaling pathways regulate the plant's response to EEE and that EEE stimulates systemic acquired resistance and basal defenses to virulent biotrophic bacteria. In the Arabidopsis LESION SIMULATING DISEASE1 (lsd1) null mutant that is deregulated for EEE acclimation responses, propagation of EEE-induced programmed cell death depends on the plant defense regulators ENHANCED DISEASE SUSCEPTIBILITY1 (EDS1) and PHYTOALEXIN DEFICIENT4 (PAD4). We find that EDS1 and PAD4 operate upstream of ethylene and ROS production in the EEE response. The data suggest that the balanced activities of LSD1, EDS1, PAD4, and EIN2 regulate signaling of programmed cell death, light acclimation, and holistic defense responses that are initiated, at least in part, by redox changes of the PQ pool.

It is well known that volatile cues from damaged plants may induce resistance in neighboring plants. Much less is known about the effects of volatile interaction between undamaged plants. In this study, barley plants, Hordeum vulgare cv. Kara, were exposed to volatiles from undamaged plants of barley cv. Alva or thistle Cirsium vulgare, and to the volatile phytochemicals, methyl salicylate or methyl jasmonate. Exposures were made either during natural daylight or darkness. Acceptance of exposed plants by the aphid Rhopalosiphum padi was assessed, as well as the expression of putative marker genes for the different treatments. Aphid acceptance of plants exposed to either barley or C. vulgare was significantly reduced, and an effect of the volatiles from undamaged plants was confirmed by the induction of pathogenesis-related protein, PR1a in exposed plants. However the effect on aphid acceptance was seen only when plants were exposed during darkness, whereas PR1a was induced only after treatment during daylight. Aphid acceptance of plants exposed to either methyl salicylate or methyl jasmonate was significantly reduced, but only when plants were exposed to the chemicals during daylight. AOS2 (allene oxide synthase) was induced by methyl jasmonate and BCI-4 (barley chemical inducible gene-4) by methyl salicylate in both daylight and darkness. It is concluded that (a) the effects on aphids of exposing barley to volatile phytochemicals was influenced by the presence or absence of light and (b) the response of barley to methyl salicylate/methyl jasmonate and to volatiles from undamaged plants differed at the gene and herbivore level.

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is produced predominantly in plant cells during photosynthesis and photorespiration, and to a lesser extent, in respiration processes. It is the most stable of the so-called reactive oxygen species (ROS), and therefore plays a crucial role as a signalling molecule in various physiological processes. Intra- and intercellular levels of H2O2 increase during environmental stresses. Hydrogen peroxide interacts with thiol-containing proteins and activates different signalling pathways as well as transcription factors, which in turn regulate gene expression and cell-cycle processes. Genetic systems controlling cellular redox homeostasis and H2O2 signalling are discussed. In addition to photosynthetic and respiratory metabolism, the extracellular matrix (ECM) plays an important role in the generation of H2O2, which regulates plant growth, development, acclimatory and defence responses. During various environmental stresses the highest levels of H2O2 are observed in the leaf veins. Most of our knowledge about H2O2 in plants has been obtained from obligate C-3 plants. The potential role of H2O2 in the photosynthetic mode of carbon assimilation, such as C-4 metabolism and CAM (Crassulacean acid metabolism) is discussed. We speculate that early in the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis on Earth, H2O2 could have been involved in the evolution of modem photosystem II.