Zea mays: benzoxazolinone detoxification under sulfur deficiency conditions--a complex allelopathic alliance including endophytic Fusarium verticillioides.

Benzoxazolinone detoxification is similar in plants grown under sulfur deficiency conditions and in control plants grown with an optimal S supply. However, when S-deficient plants were treated with metolachlor before benzoxazolin-2(3H)-one (BOA) incubation, detoxification was reduced, as indicated by a lower accumulation of the detoxification products BOA-6-O-glucoside and glucoside carbamate and by a loss of BOA-6-OH glucosyltransfease activity. Root colonizing microorganisms and the endophytic fungus Fusarium verticillioides participated in benzoxazolinone detoxification by converting the compound to 2-acetamidophenol (AAP) or O-hydroxyphenyl malonamic acid (OHPMA), a process accompanied by the appearance of phenoxazinone. Maize roots, however, absorbed AAP and OHPMA only in traces. Absorbed traces of OHPMA stimulated maize radicle growth, and traces of AAP stimulated cress. Phenoxazinone inhibited the growth of cress radicles at concentrations higher than 500 microM, whereas maize radicles were hardly affected. F. verticillioides did not convert benzoxazolinone to any known microbial degradation product when the medium of maize seedlings was inoculated with the fungus under sterile condition. Plant-fungus interactions seem to be important in plant survival of allelopathic attacks. This study points to a complicated network of allelopathic interactions that are influenced by biotic and abiotic factors, including herbicides.

Allelopathic Monoterpenes Interfere with Arabidopsis thaliana Cuticular Waxes and Enhance Transpiration.

Exposure to the allelopathic monoterpenes camphor (100 mg/10 L) and menthol (50 mg/10 L) for 24 h enhanced transpiration of Arabidopsis thaliana fully developed rosette leaves similar to de-waxing. As ascertained by ESEM analyses the leaf surfaces were spotted with platelet like structures which seem to be partly mixed with the lipophilic epicuticular layers. The structures are supposed to contain the condensed monoterpenes, which could be identified by GC. Long term exposure (more than 48 h) to 100 mg/50 mg killed the plants by desiccation, a 24 h exposure caused necrotic spots that became visible one to two days after the treatment. Examinations of the stomatal apertures indicated that monoterpenes induced stomatal opening followed by extreme swelling and a final break down of the protoplasts. Exposure of Arabidopsis thaliana to volatiles of Mentha piperita, Lavandula latifolia and Artemisia camphorata resulted in a dramatic increase of the stomata aperture but swelling of the protoplasts was less exhibited.In contrast to de-waxing, expression of the fatty acid condensing enzyme encoding CER6 gene and de novo synthesis of CER6 protein was not induced after 24 h of exposure to the monoterpenes.The aim of the study was to demonstrate that the lipophilic layers of the leaf surface and the stomata are primary targets of monoterpene allelopathic attack. Enhanced transpiration results from a combination of affected lipophilic wax layers and a disturbed stomata function.

Glucosides from MBOA and BOA detoxification by Zea mays and Portulaca oleracea.

Incubation of Zea mays cv. Nicco seedlings with 6-methoxybenzoxazolin-2(3H)-one (MBOA) led to a minor detoxification product hitherto only found in Poaceae. This new compound was identified as 1-(2-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenylamino)-1-deoxy-beta-glucoside 1,2-carbamate (1) (methoxy glucoside carbamate) and represents an analogue to the previously described 1-(2-hydroxyphenylamino)-1-deoxy-beta-glucoside 1,2-carbamate (glucoside carbamate) from benzoxazolin-2(3H)-one (BOA). In Portulaca oleracea var. sativa cv. Gelber treatment with BOA resulted in further unknown detoxification products, which were not synthesized in detectable amounts after BOA absorption in all other species tested. Compound 1 easily undergoes decay into BOA-5-O-glucoside (2). Z. mays seedlings, known to produce BOA-6-O-Glc on incubation with BOA, are able to transform BOA-5-OH into BOA-5-O-glucoside (2). Besides the known compounds, maize contained a formerly unseen product that accumulated during late stages of the detoxification process. It was isolated and identified as 1-(2-hydroxyphenylamino)-6-O-malonyl-1-deoxy-beta-glucoside 1,2-carbamate (3) (malonyl glucoside carbamate).