Cell Surfaces in Plant-Microorganism Interactions

Authors:
  • CLClaude Lafitte
    Claude Lafitte
  • DMDominique Mazau
    Dominique Mazau
  • ATAlain Toppan
    Alain Toppan
  • ATAndré Touzé
    André Touzé
Publisher website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Enrichment of the cell wall in hydroxyproline-rich glycoprotein is involved in the defense of muskmelon (Cucumis melo) seedlings to Colletotrichum lagenarium, the causative agent of anthracnose. The extent to which this accumulation proceeds may be experimentally modified by treating plants with ethylene or growing them in the presence of free l-trans-hydroxyproline. It appears that the increase in the wall hydroxyproline-rich glycoprotein mediated through ethylene is paralleled by an increasing resistance of the host to the pathogen. Inversely, inhibiting the synthesis of this glycoprotein in diseased plants is strictly correlated to an accelerated and more intense colonization of the host by the pathogen.In both cases, the inverse relationship between the accumulation of hydroxyproline-rich glycoproteins and the ability of the pathogen to develop in the host has been checked by the quantification, in infected tissues, of glucosamine, a characteristic component of chitin-containing fungi.