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Accumulation of gentisic acid as associated with systemic infections but not with the hypersensitive response in plant-pathogen interactions

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Abstract

In the present work we have studied the accumulation of gentisic acid (2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid, a metabolic derivative of salicylic acid, SA) in the plant-pathogen systems, Cucumis sativus and Gynura aurantiaca, infected with either prunus necrotic ringspot virus (PNRSV) or the exocortis viroid (CEVd), respectively. Both pathogens produced systemic infections and accumulated large amounts of the intermediary signal molecule gentisic acid as ascertained by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) coupled on line with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The compound was found mostly in a conjugated (β-glucoside) form. Gentisic acid has also been found to accumulate (although at lower levels) in cucumber inoculated with low doses of Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato, producing a nonnecrotic reaction. In contrast, when cucumber was inoculated with high doses of this pathogen, a hypersensitive reaction occurred, but no gentisic-acid signal was induced. This is consistent with our results supporting the idea that gentisic-acid signaling may be restricted to nonnecrotizing reactions of the host plant (Bellés et al. in Mol Plant-Microbe Interact 12:227–235, 1999). In cucumber and Gynura plants, the activity of gentisic acid as inducing signal was different to that of SA, thus confirming the data found for tomato. Exogenously supplied gentisic acid was able to induce peroxidase activity in both Gynura and cucumber plants in a similar way as SA or pathogens. However, gentisic-acid treatments strongly induced polyphenol oxidase activity in cucumber, whereas pathogen infection or SA treatment resulted in a lower induction of this enzyme. Nevertheless, gentisic acid did not induce other defensive proteins which are induced by SA in these plants. This indicates that gentisic acid could act as an additional signal to SA for the activation of plant defenses in cucumber and Gynura plants.

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Abbreviations

CEVd:

Citrus exocortis viroid

ESI-MS:

Electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry

HPLC:

High performance liquid chromatography

HR:

Hypersensitive response

PR:

Pathogenesis-related

PNRSV:

Prunus necrotic ringspot virus

RT-PCR:

Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction

SA:

Salicylic acid

SIR:

Selected ion recording

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the reviewers for their helpful suggestions, Dr Pablo Vera for the gift of Pseudomonas syringae pv tomato cultures and Dr Vicente Noguera for the gift of cucumber seeds. Dr Josep Lluís Llibería (Waters Corporation) is also acknowledged for his continuous support in the MS techniques. This work has been supported by grant#BMC2000-1136 from Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología, Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology.

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  1. Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022, Valencia, Spain

    José M. Bellés, Rafael Garro, Vicente Pallás, Joaquín Fayos, Ismael Rodrigo & Vicente Conejero

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  1. José M. Bellés
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  2. Rafael Garro
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  3. Vicente Pallás
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  4. Joaquín Fayos
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  6. Vicente Conejero
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Correspondence to Vicente Conejero.

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Bellés, J.M., Garro, R., Pallás, V. et al. Accumulation of gentisic acid as associated with systemic infections but not with the hypersensitive response in plant-pathogen interactions. Planta 223, 500–511 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-005-0109-8

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