A bean cDNA expressed during a hypersensitive reaction encodes a putative calcium-binding protein.

The hypersensitive reaction (HR) is an inducible plant response that is associated with disease resistance. It is characterized by rapid, localized cell death at the site of infection and is believed to inhibit the spread of invading pathogens. We have isolated a cDNA clone, designated Hra32 (for hypersensitive reaction associated), corresponding to an RNA transcript that accumulates in bean during an HR. The predicted protein product of the Hra32 cDNA is an approximately 17 kDa protein of 161 amino acids, with four putative EF-hand calcium-binding domains. The temporal pattern of Hra32 transcript accumulation correlated closely with the onset of the HR in bean after inoculation with incompatible Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci and pv. tomato and with tobacco necrosis virus. Hra32 transcript also accumulated in bean in response to compatible P. syringae pv. phaseolicola and was correlated with necrotic cell death associated with disease lesion formation. A more transient pattern of Hra32 transcript accumulation occurred in bean in response to general stimuli that did not result in the HR or host cell death. These treatments included infiltration with a P. syringae pv. tabaci Hrp- mutant, P. syringae pv. tabaci cells treated with kanamycin, Escherichia coli, P. fluorescens, or glutathione, and in response to wounding. Thus, there was differential accumulation of the Hra32 transcript in response to specific stimuli resulting in the HR, compared with general stimuli that did not result in cell death. We hypothesize that the Hra32 product may be a component of the pathway that leads to hypersensitive cell death.

Genetics of plant-pathogen interactions

Progress has occurred in understanding the function of disease-resistance genes that govern the resistance of plants to pathogens, and pathogen-produced molecules, called elicitors, that resistance genes key on. Data support the elicitor-receptor model wherein resistant plants contain receptors for pathogen elicitors. This recognition may be complex, however, involving delivery of elicitors to plant cells by specialized pathogen secretion systems and their processing prior to perception. Furthermore, elicitor receptors may not be the resistance gene proteins that govern specificity of the system. It is now also recognized that many elicitors function as virulence factors for the pathogen but have been co-opted by plants as triggers for active resistance. Major recent advances in the cloning and sequencing of clustered plant disease-resistance genes are providing information on the basis of their recognitional specificities and offer the opportunity to engineer new genes that recognize refractory pathogens or exhibit increased efficacy and durability. In combination with the transformation of cloned disease-resistance genes into new plant species, these approaches should facilitate disease control strategies in practical agriculture.

Accumulation of salicylic acid and 4-hydroxybenzoic acid in phloem fluids of cucumber during systemic acquired resistance is preceded by a transient increase in phenylalanine ammonia-lyase activity in petioles and stems.

Cucumber (Cucumis sativa) leaves infiltrated with Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae cells produced a mobile signal for systemic acquired resistance between 3 and 6 h after inoculation. The production of a mobile signal by inoculated leaves was followed by a transient increase in phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activity in the petioles of inoculated leaves and in stems above inoculated leaves; with peaks in activity at 9 and 12 h, respectively, after inoculation. In contrast, PAL activity in inoculated leaves continued to rise slowly for at least 18 h. No increases in PAL activity were detected in healthy leaves of inoculated plants. Two benzoic acid derivatives, salicylic acid (SA) and 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (4HBA), began to accumulate in phloem fluids at about the time PAL activity began to increase, reaching maximum concentrations 15 h after inoculation. The accumulation of SA and 4HBA in phloem fluids was unaffected by the removal of all leaves 6 h after inoculation, and seedlings excised from roots prior to inoculation still accumulated high levels of SA and 4HBA. These results suggest that SA and 4HBA are synthesized de novo in stems and petioles in response to a mobile signal from the inoculated leaf.