Publikationen - Molekulare Signalverarbeitung

Previous experiments with tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv Samsun NN) plants revealed that jasmonic acid methyl ester (JAME) induces the expression of a cytoplasmic/nuclear lectin in leaf cells and provided the first evidence that jasmonates affect the expression of carbohydrate-binding proteins in plant cells. To corroborate the induced accumulation of relatively large amounts of a cytoplasmic/nuclear lectin, a detailed study was performed on the induction of the lectin in both intact tobacco plants and excised leaves. Experiments with different stress factors demonstrated that the lectin is exclusively induced by exogeneously applied jasmonic acid and JAME, and to a lesser extent by insect herbivory. The lectin concentration depends on leaf age and the position of the tissue in the leaf. JAME acts systemically in intact plants but very locally in excised leaves. Kinetic analyses indicated that the lectin is synthesized within 12 h exposure time to JAME, reaching a maximum after 60 h. After removal of JAME, the lectin progressively disappears from the leaf tissue. The JAME-induced accumulation of an abundant nuclear/cytoplasmic lectin is discussed in view of the possible role of this lectin in the plant.

A crucial step in the biosynthesis of jasmonic acid (JA) is the formation of its stereoisomeric precursor, cis-(+)-12-oxophytodienoic acid (OPDA), which is catalyzed by allene oxide cyclase (AOC, EC 5.3.99.6). A cDNA of AOC was isolated from Humulus lupulus var. Nugget. The ORF of 765 bp encodes a 255 amino acid protein, which carries a putative chloroplast targeting sequence. The recombinant protein without its putative chloroplast target sequence showed significant AOC activity. Previously we demonstrated that wounding induces organogenic nodule formation in hop. Here we show that the AOC transcript level increases in response to wounding of internodes, peaking between 2 and 4 h after wounding. In addition, Western blot analysis showed elevated levels of AOC peaking 24 h after internode inoculation. The AOC increase was accompanied by increased JA levels 24 h after wounding, whereas OPDA had already reached its highest level after 12 h. AOC is mostly present in the vascular bundles of inoculated internodes. During prenodule and nodule formation, AOC levels were still high. JA and OPDA levels decreased down to 10 and 118 pmol (g FW)–1, respectively, during nodule formation, but increased during plantlet regeneration. Double immunolocalization analysis of AOC and Rubisco in connection with lugol staining showed that AOC is present in amyloplasts of prenodular cells and in the chloroplasts of vacuolated nodular cells, whereas meristematic cells accumulated little AOC. These data suggest a role of AOC and jasmonates in organogenic nodule formation and plantlet regeneration from these nodules.