Wie Reis Stressarten unterscheidet

Hormonal Stress Decisions

Life is tough – this is valid for plants as well, especially in times of climate change. The adaptation of plants to stress attracts increaseing attention. Self understood – only resilient crops will secure our food. Stress comes in many colours, though, and each form of stress requires a different type of adaptation. But how can plants distinguish different stress forms? In this work we could show that rice, one of the major food sources worldwide, uses the ratio of two plant hormones – jasmonic acid and salicylic acid (aspirin) – to sort out drought stress from an attack of the devastating fungus Magnaporthe oryzae (causing Rice Blast). These hormones act antagonistically. Jasmonic acid activates the PR10 gene, which makes the root change towards saving water. Salicylic acid, however, mobilises all resources to ward of Rice Blast. As to focus, the plant must downmodulate the response to drought stress. This is achieved by inhibition of jasmonic acid through salicylic acid, which will also stop the activation of the PR10. Thus, although plants are not endowed with a brain, not even with neurons, they can use this type of chemical networking to meet important „decisions“.

Veröffentlichung

86. Takeuchi K, Gyohda A, Tominaga M, Kawakatsu M, Hatakeyama A, Ishii N, Shimaya K, Nishimura T, Riemann M, Nick P, Hashimoto M, Komano T, Endo A, Okamoto T, Jikumaru Y, Kamiya Y, Terakawa T, Koshiba T (2011) RSOsPR10 Expression in Response to Environmental Stresses is Regulated Antagonistically by Jasmonate/Ethylene and Salicylic Acid Signaling Pathways in Rice Roots. Plant Cell Physiol 52, 1686-1696. pdf