Growth inhibition of arable weeds by cerato-platanin, a plant immune defense activator of fungal origin.

Background: The herbicide sector needs new modes of action and new ecofriendly molecules as active ingredients. In this study, we investigated the stimulation of the plant immune system as a strategy to reduce weed growth, a mechanism not exploited by any commercial herbicide. Plants possess an innate immune system able to detect pathogens' molecules such as cerato-platanin (CP), a fungal protein elicitor produced by Ceratocystis platani.

Microplastics in the Soil at Sub-Toxic Concentrations Cause Metabolic Changes Decreasing Fungal Pathogen Susceptibility in Arabidopsis thaliana.

To unravel the complex interactions between microplastics (MPs), plants, and pathogens, Arabidopsis thaliana plants were grown for 3 weeks in soils containing polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polyvinyl chloride (PVC) MPs (0.2% and 0.5% w/w), and leaves were then exposed to the PAMP (Pathogen-Associated Molecular Pattern) protein cerato-platanin (CP) or Botrytis cinerea conidia.

Arabidopsis GLYI4 Reveals Intriguing Insights into the JA Signaling Pathway and Plant Defense.

Plant hormones play a central role in various physiological functions and mediate defense responses against (a)biotic stresses. Jasmonic acid (JA) has emerged as one of the key phytohormones involved in the response to necrotrophic pathogens. Under stressful conditions, plants can also produce small molecules, such as methylglyoxal (MG), a cytotoxic aldehyde.

Ep2.2 inhibits growth of through the emission of volatile organic compounds, restricts leaf infection and primes defense genes.

The bacterium is known to be beneficial for plants and has been frequently isolated from the rhizosphere of crops. In the present work, we isolated from the phyllosphere of an ornamental plant an epiphytic strain of that we named Ep2.2 and investigated its possible application in crop protection.

Can microplastics threaten plant productivity and fruit quality? Insights from Micro-Tom and Micro-PET/PVC.

Solanum lycopersicum L., a crop grown worldwide with a high nutritional value for the human diet, was used to test the impact of microplastics on plant growth, productivity, and fruit quality. Two of the most represented microplastics in soils, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), were tested.

Plant Growth Promotion and Biocontrol of Leaf Blight Caused by on Passion Fruit by Endophytic Strain GUCC4.

Passion fruit ( Sims) is widely cultivated in tropic and sub-tropic regions for the production of fruit, flowers, cosmetics, and for pharmacological applications. Its high economic, nutritional, and medical values elicit the market demand, and the growing areas are rapidly increasing. Leaf blight caused by is a new and emerging disease of passion fruit in Guizhou, in southwest China, where the unique karst mountainous landscape and climate conditions are considered potential areas of expansion for passion fruit production.

Plant Defense Elicitation by the Hydrophobin Cerato-Ulmin and Correlation with Its Structural Features.

Cerato-ulmin (CU) is a 75-amino-acid-long protein that belongs to the hydrophobin family. It self-assembles at hydrophobic-hydrophilic interfaces, forming films that reverse the wettability properties of the bound surface: a capability that may confer selective advantages to the fungus in colonizing and infecting elm trees. Here, we show for the first time that CU can elicit a defense reaction (induction of phytoalexin synthesis and ROS production) in non-host plants () and exerts its eliciting capacity more efficiently when in its soluble monomeric form.

Biological characterization and fungicide screenings of a new causal agent of wheat Fusarium head blight in Tibet, China.

Wheat ( L.) is an important cereal crop, widely grown throughout the temperate zones, and also suitable for cultivation at higher elevations. Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a highly destructive disease of wheat throughout the globe.

Water-Soluble Trichogin GA IV-Derived Peptaibols Protect Tomato Plants From Infection With Limited Impact on Plant Defenses.

Peptaibols are non-ribosomal linear peptides naturally produced by a wide variety of fungi and represent the largest group of peptaibiotic molecules produced by species. Trichogin GA IV is an 11-residue peptaibol naturally produced by . Peptaibols possess the ability to form pores in lipid membranes or perturb their surface, and have been studied as antibiotics or anticancer drugs in human medicine, or as antimicrobial molecules against plant pathogens.

A Metabolic Profiling Analysis Revealed a Primary Metabolism Reprogramming in Arabidopsis Loss-of-Function Mutant.

Methylglyoxal (MG) is a cytotoxic compound often produced as a side product of metabolic processes such as glycolysis, lipid peroxidation, and photosynthesis. MG is mainly scavenged by the glyoxalase system, a two-step pathway, in which the coordinate activity of GLYI and GLYII transforms it into D-lactate, releasing GSH. In , a member of the GLYI family named GLYI4 has been recently characterized.

Isoprene: An Antioxidant Itself or a Molecule with Multiple Regulatory Functions in Plants?

Isoprene (CH) is a small lipophilic, volatile organic compound (VOC), synthesized in chloroplasts of plants through the photosynthesis-dependent 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate (MEP) pathway. Isoprene-emitting plants are better protected against thermal and oxidative stresses but only about 20% of the terrestrial plants are able to synthesize isoprene. Many studies have been performed to understand the still elusive isoprene protective mechanism.

A mechanistic model may explain the dissimilar biological efficiency of the fungal elicitors cerato-platanin and cerato-populin.

Among their various functions, the members of the cerato-platanin family can stimulate plants' defense responses and induce resistance against microbial pathogens. Recent results suggest that conserved loops, also involved in chitin binding, might be a structural motif central for their eliciting activity. Here, we focus on cerato-platanin and its orthologous cerato-populin, searching for a rationale of their diverse efficiency to elicit plants' defense and to interact with oligosaccharides.

GLYI4 Plays A Role in Methylglyoxal Detoxification and Jasmonate-Mediated Stress Responses in .

Plant hormones play a central role in various physiological functions and in mediating defense responses against (a)biotic stresses. In response to primary metabolism alteration, plants can produce also small molecules such as methylglyoxal (MG), a cytotoxic aldehyde. MG is mostly detoxified by the combined actions of the enzymes glyoxalase I (GLYI) and glyoxalase II (GLYII) that make up the glyoxalase system.

Exploiting Plant Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in Agriculture to Improve Sustainable Defense Strategies and Productivity of Crops.

There is an urgent need for new sustainable solutions to support agriculture in facing current environmental challenges. In particular, intensification of productivity and food security needs require sustainable exploitation of natural resources and metabolites. Here, we bring the attention to the agronomic potential of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from leaves, as a natural and eco-friendly solution to defend plants from stresses and to enhance crop production.

The accumulation of β-aminobutyric acid is controlled by the plant's immune system.

Endogenous levels of β-aminobutyric acid (BABA) increase after the molecular recognition of pathogen presence. BABA is accumulated differently during resistance or susceptibility to disease. The priming molecule β-aminobutyric acid has been recently shown to be a natural product of plants, and this has provided significance to the previous discovery of a perception mechanism in Arabidopsis.

Defense Priming: An Adaptive Part of Induced Resistance.

Priming is an adaptive strategy that improves the defensive capacity of plants. This phenomenon is marked by an enhanced activation of induced defense mechanisms. Stimuli from pathogens, beneficial microbes, or arthropods, as well as chemicals and abiotic cues, can trigger the establishment of priming by acting as warning signals.

The priming molecule β-aminobutyric acid is naturally present in plants and is induced by stress.

The defense system of a plant can be primed for increased defense, resulting in an augmented stress resistance and/or tolerance. Priming can be triggered by biotic and abiotic stimuli, as well as by chemicals such as β-aminobutyric acid (BABA), a nonprotein amino acid considered so far a xenobiotic. Since the perception mechanism of BABA has been recently identified in Arabidopsis thaliana, in the present study we explored the possibility that plants do synthesize BABA.

Beta-aminobutyric acid priming of plant defense: the role of ABA and other hormones.

Plants are exposed to recurring biotic and abiotic stresses that can, in extreme situations, lead to substantial yield losses. With the changing environment, the stress pressure is likely to increase and sustainable measures to alleviate the effect on our crops are sought. Priming plants for better stress resistance is one of the sustainable possibilities to reach this goal.

Cerato-platanin induces resistance in Arabidopsis leaves through stomatal perception, overexpression of salicylic acid- and ethylene-signalling genes and camalexin biosynthesis.

Microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) lead to the activation of the first line of plant defence. Few fungal molecules are universally qualified as MAMPs, and proteins belonging to the cerato-platanin protein (CPP) family seem to possess these features. Cerato-platanin (CP) is the name-giving protein of the CPP family and is produced by Ceratocystis platani, the causal agent of the canker stain disease of plane trees (Platanus spp.

Cerato-platanin shows expansin-like activity on cellulosic materials.

Cerato-platanin (CP) is a non-catalytic protein with a double ψβ-barrel fold located in the cell wall of the phytopathogenic fungus Ceratocystis platani. CP is released during growth and induces defence-related responses in plants. CP is also the first member of the "cerato-platanin family" (CPF) (Pfam PF07249).

Differential timing of defense-related responses induced by cerato-platanin and cerato-populin, two non-catalytic fungal elicitors.

The cerato-platanin (CP) family consists of fungal-secreted proteins involved in various stages of the host-fungus interaction and acting as phytotoxins and elicitors of defense responses. The founder member of this family is CP, a non-catalytic protein with a six-stranded double-ψβ-barrel fold. Cerato-populin (Pop1) is an ortholog showing low sequence identity with CP.