Dem IPB wird erneut ein beispielhaftes Handeln im Sinne einer chancengleichheitsorientierten Personal- und Organisationspolitik bescheinigt. Das Institut erhält zum 6. Mal in Folge das TOTAL E-QUALITY…
Die Plant Science Student Conference (PSSC) wird seit 20 Jahren im jährlichen Wechsel von Studierenden der beiden Leibniz-Institute IPK und IPB organisiert. Im Interview erläutern Christina Wäsch…
Escalante-Pérez, M.; Krol, E.; Stange, A.; Geiger, D.; Al-Rasheid, K. A. S.; Hause, B.; Neher, E.; Hedrich, R.;A special pair of phytohormones controls excitability, slow closure, and external stomach formation in the Venus flytrapProc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.10815492-15497(2011)DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1112535108
Venus flytrap's leaves can catch an insect in a fraction of a second. Since the time of Charles Darwin, scientists have struggled to understand the sensory biology and biomechanics of this plant, Dionaea muscipula. Here we show that insect-capture of Dionaea traps is modulated by the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) and jasmonates. Water-stressed Dionaea, as well as those exposed to the drought-stress hormone ABA, are less sensitive to mechanical stimulation. In contrast, application of 12-oxo-phytodienoic acid (OPDA), a precursor of the phytohormone jasmonic acid (JA), the methyl ester of JA (Me-JA), and coronatine (COR), the molecular mimic of the isoleucine conjugate of JA (JA-Ile), triggers secretion of digestive enzymes without any preceding mechanical stimulus. Such secretion is accompanied by slow trap closure. Under physiological conditions, insect-capture is associated with Ca2+ signaling and a rise in OPDA, Apparently, jasmonates bypass hapto-electric processes associated with trap closure. However, ABA does not affect OPDA-dependent gland activity. Therefore, signals for trap movement and secretion seem to involve separate pathways. Jasmonates are systemically active because application to a single trap induces secretion and slow closure not only in the given trap but also in all others. Furthermore, formerly touch-insensitive trap sectors are converted into mechanosensitive ones. These findings demonstrate that prey-catching Dionaea combines plant-specific signaling pathways, involving OPDA and ABA with a rapidly acting trigger, which uses ion channels, action potentials, and Ca2+ signals.
Publikation
Zimmermann, S.; Nürnberger, T.; Frachisse, J.-M.; Wirtz, W.; Guern, J.; Hedrich, R.; Scheel, D.;Receptor-mediated activation of a plant Ca2+-permeable ion channel involved in pathogen defenseProc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.942751-2755(1997)DOI: 10.1073/pnas.94.6.2751
Pathogen recognition at the plant cell surface typically results in the initiation of a multicomponent defense response. Transient influx of Ca2+ across the plasma membrane is postulated to be part of the signaling chain leading to pathogen resistance. Patch-clamp analysis of parsley protoplasts revealed a novel Ca2+-permeable, La3+-sensitive plasma membrane ion channel of large conductance (309 pS in 240 mM CaCl2). At an extracellular Ca2+ concentration of 1 mM, which is representative of the plant cell apoplast, unitary channel conductance was determined to be 80 pS. This ion channel (LEAC, for large conductance elicitor-activated ion channel) is reversibly activated upon treatment of parsley protoplasts with an oligopeptide elicitor derived from a cell wall protein of Phytophthora sojae. Structural features of the elicitor found previously to be essential for receptor binding, induction of defense-related gene expression, and phytoalexin formation are identical to those required for activation of LEAC. Thus, receptor-mediated stimulation of this channel appears to be causally involved in the signaling cascade triggering pathogen defense in parsley.