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Plant Physiol. (1999) 119: 1289-1296
Involvement of the Octadecanoid Pathway and Protein
Phosphorylation in Fungal Elicitor-Induced Expression of Terpenoid
Indole Alkaloid Biosynthetic Genes in Catharanthus
roseus
Frank L.H. Menke,
Stefanie Parchmann,
Martin J. Mueller,
Jan W. Kijne, and
Johan Memelink*
Institute of Molecular Plant Sciences, Clusius Laboratory, Leiden
University, Wassenaarseweg 64, 2333 AL Leiden, The Netherlands
(F.L.H.M., J.W.K., J.M.); and Institute of Pharmaceutical Biology,
Munich University, Karlstrasse 29, D-80333 Munich, Germany (S.P.,
M.J.M.)
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ABSTRACT |
Two key genes in terpenoid indole alkaloid biosynthesis,
Tdc and Str, encoding tryptophan
decarboxylase and strictosidine synthase, respectively, are
coordinately induced by fungal elicitors in suspension-cultured
Catharanthus roseus cells. We have studied the roles of
the jasmonate biosynthetic pathway and of protein phosphorylation in
signal transduction initiated by a partially purified elicitor from
yeast extract. In addition to activating Tdc and
Str gene expression, the elicitor also induced the
biosynthesis of jasmonic acid. The jasmonate precursor -linolenic
acid or methyl jasmonate (MeJA) itself induced Tdc and
Str gene expression when added exogenously . Diethyldithiocarbamic acid, an inhibitor of jasmonate biosynthesis,
blocked both the elicitor-induced formation of jasmonic acid and the
activation of terpenoid indole alkaloid biosynthetic genes. The protein
kinase inhibitor K-252a abolished both elicitor-induced jasmonate
biosynthesis and MeJA-induced Tdc and Str
gene expression. Analysis of the expression of Str promoter/gusA fusions in transgenic C. roseus cells showed that the elicitor and MeJA act at the
transcriptional level. These results demonstrate that the jasmonate
biosynthetic pathway is an integral part of the elicitor-triggered
signal transduction pathway that results in the coordinate expression
of the Tdc and Str genes and that protein
kinases act both upstream and downstream of jasmonates.
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INTRODUCTION |
The initiation of a plant defense response requires
the perception of pathogen-derived (exogenous) or plant-derived
(endogenous) signal molecules, collectively referred to as elicitors
(for review, see Boller, 1995 ; Yang et al., 1997 ). Elicitor-induced
defense responses include the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites
(Darvill and Albersheim, 1984 ; Côté and Hahn, 1994 ) and
proteinase inhibitors (Pearce et al., 1991 ). Protein phosphorylation is
an essential component of elicitor-induced signal transduction (Chandra
and Low, 1995 ; Suzuki et al., 1995 ). The lipid-based octadecanoid pathway leading to JA has also been implicated as an integral part of
the signal transduction pathway leading to the activation of defense
responses. The octadecanoid pathway was first implicated in
wounding-induced biosynthesis of proteinase inhibitors (Farmer and
Ryan, 1992 ). Upon wounding, the octadecanoid pathway is activated by
the polypeptide systemin and by oligouronides, resulting in elevated
levels of JA (Doares et al., 1995b ). JA and its octadecanoid precursors
activate the synthesis of wounding-inducible proteinase inhibitors
(Farmer and Ryan, 1992 ). Induction of the synthesis of proteinase
inhibitors by wounding, systemin, and oligouronides is blocked by
several inhibitors of the jasmonate biosynthetic pathway (Farmer et
al., 1994 ; Doares et al., 1995b ). Furthermore, Kim et al. (1992)
identified a MeJA-responsive element in the promoter of a proteinase
inhibitor II gene, indicating that this gene is transcriptionally
regulated in response to MeJA.
How elicitors affect JA biosynthesis and how the JA signal is
transduced to effect gene expression is largely unknown. Much more is
known about the JA biosynthetic pathway itself. Farmer and Ryan (1992)
have proposed that a lipase generates -linolenic acid, the first
precursor in the octadecanoid pathway. -Linolenic acid is then
converted by a lipoxygenase, an allene oxide synthase, and an allene
oxide cyclase into the intermediate 12-oxo-phytodienoic acid. This
compound is converted into JA through the action of a reductase and
three rounds of -oxidation (Vick and Zimmerman, 1984 ; Mueller,
1997 ).
JA and its octadecanoid precursors have also been implicated as
intermediate signals in elicitor-induced secondary metabolite accumulation (Gundlach et al., 1992 ; Mueller et al., 1993 ; Ellard-Ivey and Douglas, 1996 ; Nojiri et al., 1996 ). A correlation between elicitor-induced accumulation of endogenous JA and secondary metabolite accumulation was shown in cells of California poppy (Mueller et al.,
1993 ) and rice (Nojiri et al., 1996 ). In parsley cells phenylpropanoid biosynthetic genes were induced by octadecanoids, and elicitor-induced gene expression was blocked by a lipoxygenase inhibitor (Ellard-Ivey and Douglas, 1996 ). These reports indicate that in elicitor-induced secondary metabolism JA plays a role that is similar to its role in the
accumulation of wound-induced proteinase inhibitors, for which it has
been elegantly demonstrated that jasmonates are intermediate signals
that transcriptionally activate proteinase inhibitor genes. However,
the studies that have been done on various metabolic pathways in
different plant species using diverse elicitors lack the integrated
approach of measuring jasmonate biosynthesis and studying the effect of
JA and octadecanoid pathway inhibitors on gene expression. In general,
metabolite accumulation has been studied instead of gene expression.
Therefore, in most cases it remains unclear on what regulatory
level jasmonates exert their effect on secondary metabolism.
In Catharanthus roseus cell suspensions, the expression of
two TIA biosynthetic genes, Tdc and Str, encoding
Trp decarboxylase and strictosidine synthase, respectively, is
coordinately induced by fungal elicitors such as YE (Pasquali et al.,
1992 ). The enzymes encoded by these genes are important in the TIA
biosynthetic pathway (for reviews, see Meijer et al., 1993 ; Kutchan,
1995 ). Both genes are present as single copies in the haploid C. roseus genome (Pasquali et al., 1992 ; Goddijn et al., 1994 ).
Using the integrated approach of measuring JA biosynthesis and using an
inhibitor of the octadecanoid pathway, we show conclusively that
elicitor-induced expression of the Tdc and Str
genes in C. roseus cells is mediated by the octadecanoid
pathway. Furthermore, we provide evidence for the existence of protein
phosphorylation steps both upstream and downstream of the octadecanoid
pathway. We also show that both elicitor-induced and MeJA-induced gene expression are conferred by the Str promoter, demonstrating
that elicitor and MeJA act at the transcriptional level.
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MATERIALS AND METHODS |
Cell Culture
Cell-suspension cultures of the Catharanthus roseus
line MP183L were grown as described by Pasquali et al. (1992) . A BH
fragment of 396 bp ( 339 to +52 relative to the transcriptional start
site) was excised from the Str promoter (accession no.
Y10182) and fused to the gusA gene in the vector GusSH
digested with BamHI and HincII (Pasquali et al.,
1994 ). The BH derivative of GusSH was used to make transgenic C. roseus MP183L cell lines by particle bombardment according to the
method of van der Fits and Memelink (1997) .
Elicitor and Jasmonate Treatment
YE (DIFCO Laboratories, Detroit, MI) was dissolved in water,
autoclaved, and used as a crude extract at a concentration of 400 g mL 1 to elicit C. roseus cells. PE
was prepared through ultrafiltration and a number of chromatographic
steps, including size-exclusion chromatography, anion-exchange
chromatography, and reversed-phase HPLC (F.L.H. Menke, M. Harleveld,
and J. Memelink, unpublished data). This resulted in a partially
purified elicitor preparation of unknown absolute quality. We estimated
the active component in PE to be purified at least 1000-fold. Crude
YE/PE and induced the alkalinization of the cell culture medium within
5 to 10 min. The kinetics and the amplitude of the alkalinization
response were proportional to the amount of elicitor added. Using this semiquantitative alkalinization assay, the amount of PE used for induction experiments was calibrated to give an alkalinization response
that was equivalent to the effect of 400 g
mL 1 crude YE. MeJA (Bedoukian Research,
Danbury, CT) and -linolenic acid and linoleic acid (both from Sigma)
were diluted in DMSO.
Inhibitor Treatment
Ibuprofen (Sigma), K-252a (Calbiochem), staurosporine (Sigma), and
OA and calyculin A (both from Calbiochem) were dissolved in DMSO. DIECA
and acetyl-salicylic acid (both from Sigma) were dissolved in 15 mM KPO4, pH 6.5. Each inhibitor was
added 10 min before the addition of elicitor or MeJA. Cells were
incubated in the presence of the elicitor or MeJA for 6 h unless
indicated otherwise.
RNA Extraction and Northern Analysis
We extracted RNA and performed northern analysis as described
previously by Menke et al. (1996) Unless indicated otherwise, 10-µg
RNA samples were loaded onto the gels. All northern blots used
32P-labeled cDNA probes. For Tdc we
used a cDNA clone that was full length and otherwise homologous to the
cDNA cloned by De Luca et al. (1989) . The full-length cDNA clone
for Str (Pasquali et al., 1992 ) and a cDNA corresponding to
Rps9 (40S ribosomal protein S9) were isolated from C. roseus (L. van der
Fits and J. Memelink, unpublished data).
JA Extraction and Quantification
Three- or four-day-old C. roseus cell suspensions
(MP183L) were incubated with YE or PE for 0 to 6 h. The cells were
harvested by vacuum filtration using an 80-µm mesh. We divided
the samples into portions for RNA extraction and portions for JA
extraction. The cells were snap frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at
80°C. We used 6 to 12 g (fresh weight) of the cells to extract
jasmonates and extracted and quantified the jasmonates according to the
method described by Mueller and Brodschelm (1994) .
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RESULTS |
Tdc and Str gene expression in
suspension-cultured C. roseus cells is coordinately induced
by the addition of fungal elicitors (Pasquali et al., 1992 ). The crude
elicitor preparations used by Pasquali et al. (1992) are less suitable
for signal transduction studies because they may consist of multiple
components that exert different effects on C. roseus cells.
Therefore, the purification and characterization of a YE elicitor were
undertaken (F.L.H. Menke, M. Harleveld, and J. Memelink, unpublished
data), and a PE that induces Tdc and Str gene
expression was obtained (Fig. 1).

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| Figure 1.
PE and octadecanoids induce the TIA biosynthetic
genes Tdc and Str. C. roseus cells were exposed to DMSO as a control (C) or PE,
linoleic acid (LE), -linolenic acid ( -LA), or MeJA for 6 h,
after which time cells were harvested and total RNA was isolated.
Northern blots were hybridized with Tdc,
Str, and Rps9 cDNAs. The micromolar
concentrations of the octadecanoids are given at the top.
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Octadecanoids Induce TIA Biosynthetic Gene Expression
The octadecanoid pathway has been implicated in wounding- and
elicitor-induced signaling leading to defense gene expression in plants
(Farmer and Ryan, 1992 ; Gundlach et al., 1992 ). We tested the ability
of octadecanoids to induce TIA biosynthetic gene expression in
suspension-cultured C. roseus cells. Cultures were treated for 6 h with MeJA, the jasmonate precursor -linolenic acid, and a related compound, linoleic acid, which cannot function directly as a
precursor in the octadecanoid pathway at concentrations between 2 and
200 µM. Figure 1 shows that 2 µM MeJA induced TIA biosynthetic gene
expression to a high level. At 2 µM, -linolenic acid
did not induce gene expression over the control level. At 100 µM -linolenic acid, the levels of Tdc and
Str transcripts were comparable to those induced by PE.
Higher concentrations of -linolenic acid did not further increase
the transcript levels (data not shown). The octadecanoid linoleic acid
did not significantly induce Str or Tdc gene
expression levels in the concentration range tested (Fig. 1; data for
200 µM not shown). Figure 1 also shows that PE,
MeJA, and the two octadecanoids had little effect on the level of
Rps9 mRNA, encoding the 40S ribosomal protein S9. These
results indicate that the expression of Tdc and
Str genes in suspension-cultured C. roseus cells
is induced by MeJA and its precursor, but not by a related octadecanoid
that does not form part of the octadecanoid pathway.
PE Induces JA Biosynthesis
The fact that both PE and octadecanoids induced TIA biosynthetic
gene expression suggests that the octadecanoid pathway mediated elicitor-induced signaling. If so, then involvement of the octadecanoid pathway should be reflected by an increase in endogenous levels of
jasmonates in C. roseus cells in response to PE. To test
this hypothesis, suspension cultures were exposed for different lengths of time to PE and crude YE. Figure 2A
shows a representative experiment. PE induced the accumulation of
endogenous JA within 1 h, reached a maximum at 3 h, and then
decreased to background level within 5 h. The addition of crude YE
induced the accumulation of JA with similar kinetics (Fig. 2A). The
corresponding northern blot (Fig. 2B) shows a steady increase in the
levels of Tdc and Str mRNAs, starting at 2 h
and continuing up to 5 h for both PE and crude YE, whereas no
significant changes were observed in the levels of Rps9
mRNA. In the noninduced control cultures, neither endogenous JA nor
Tdc or Str transcripts accumulated this time.
Four independent experiments within were done and all showed the same
pattern, although the maximum amount of JA that was induced upon
elicitor treatment varied from 20 to 120 ng g 1
(dry weight). These results indicate that the PE induces a transient accumulation of endogenous JA and a concomitant increase in TIA biosynthetic gene expression.

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| Figure 2.
YE elicitor induces JA biosynthesis. A,
Amount of JA in C. roseus cells at different times after
the addition of water as a control ( ) or PE ( ) or crude ( ) YE.
DW, Dry weight. B, Str, Tdc, and
Rps9 mRNA levels at different times after the addition
of water as a control (C) or of PE or crude (CE) YE. RNA was extracted
from the same sample of tissue used to extract JA. The times in hours
are indicated (top).
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The Octadecanoid Pathway Mediates Elicitor-Induced TIA Biosynthetic
Gene Expression
If jasmonates act as intermediates in elicitor-induced signaling,
then inhibitors of the octadecanoid pathway should block PE-induced TIA
biosynthetic gene expression. To test this hypothesis, we incubated
cells with the octadecanoid pathway inhibitor DIECA and then studied
the effect on PE-induced responses. DIECA inhibits the octadecanoid
pathway by reducing the intermediate
13-S-hydroperoxylinolenic acid to 13-hydroxylinolenic
acid, which is not an intermediate in the octadecanoid pathway (Farmer
et al., 1994 ). DIECA completely blocked the elicitation of
Str and Tdc gene expression in C. roseus cells at 500 µM, but the level of
Rps9 mRNA was not affected (Fig. 3A). At 100 µM,
DIECA had no effect (Fig. 3A). The two highest concentrations of DIECA
tested did not significantly affect MeJA-induced Str and
Tdc gene expression (Fig. 3A). This indicates that DIECA acts on the octadecanoid pathway upstream of (Me)JA, which is in
agreement with the results of Farmer et al. (1994) .

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| Figure 3.
A, Effect of DIECA on TIA biosynthetic gene
expression. C. roseus cell suspensions were incubated
with DIECA for 10 min prior to the addition of water as a control (C),
PE, or 50 µM MeJA, and cells were harvested 6 h
later. The micromolar concentrations of inhibitors are indicated at the
top. B, Effect of octadecanoid inhibitor on PE-induced JA accumulation.
C. roseus cells were incubated with water or PE for
3 h. DIECA was added 10 min before the addition of PE. Bars
represent SE (n = 3).
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In a separate experiment to determine the effect of DIECA (500 µM) on JA biosynthesis, we found an inhibition of 95%
relative to the PE-induced accumulation of JA (Fig. 3B). The
corresponding northern blot showed that DIECA had a clear inhibitory
effect on Tdc and Str mRNA accumulation in this
experiment but did not affect the level of Rps9 mRNA. From
Figure 3B, it is clear that strong inhibition of JA accumulation by
DIECA resulted in a comparably strong inhibition of Tdc and
Str mRNA accumulation. The results obtained with DIECA show
that elicitor-induced Str and Tdc gene expression
in C. roseus was mediated through the octadecanoid pathway.
Involvement of Protein Phosphorylation/Dephosphorylation
The mechanisms by which the octadecanoid signal is generated and
subsequently transduced to affect gene expression are not known. To
begin to address this question, we studied the effect of inhibitors of
protein kinases and protein phosphatases on elicitor- and MeJA-induced
gene expression. Treatment of C. roseus cells with different
concentrations of the protein kinase inhibitor K-252a resulted in the
inhibition of elicitor-induced TIA biosynthetic gene expression (Fig.
4A). Treatment of the cells with 200 nM K-252a resulted in a slight reduction of the
amounts of Str and Tdc mRNA that accumulated
6 h after the addition of PE. At 1 µM, the
mRNA accumulation in response to the elicitor was completely blocked
for both Str and Tdc. The level of
Rps9 mRNA was not affected by incubation with this protein
kinase inhibitor, indicating that at these concentrations K-252a does
not cause a general down-regulation of gene expression. We obtained
similar results using 1 µM of the protein
kinase inhibitor staurosporine (data not shown). MeJA-induced TIA
biosynthetic gene expression was also sensitive to the protein kinase
inhibitors K-252a (Fig. 4A) and staurosporine (data not shown). We
found complete inhibition of MeJA-induced expression at 1 µM K-252a for both the Str and the
Tdc genes (Fig. 4A). The inhibitory effect of the protein
kinase inhibitors K-252a and staurosporine on PE- and MeJA-induced
Tdc and Str gene expression shows that downstream
of MeJA one or more protein kinases mediate the signaling that leads to
TIA biosynthetic gene expression.

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| Figure 4.
Protein kinases act upstream and downstream of JA.
A, Effect of inhibitors on TIA biosynthetic gene expression. C. roseus cell suspensions were incubated with DSMO as a control
(C), K-252a, calyculin A (CalA), or OA for 10 min before the
addition of either PE or 50 µM MeJA, and cells were
harvested 6 h later. The micromolar concentrations of the
inhibitors are indicated at the top. B, Inhibition of PE-induced JA
accumulation by a protein kinase inhibitor. C. roseus
cells were incubated with 1 µM K-252a for 10 min before
the addition of PE, and cells were harvested 3 h later. Bars
represent the SE (n = 3).
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To investigate whether a protein kinase is also active upstream of the
octadecanoid pathway, we measured the effect of PE on JA levels in the
presence of K-252a. In cells that were treated with 1 µM
K-252a, the amount of JA that accumulated 3 h after the addition
of PE was reduced to 15%, relative to the elicitor-induced level (Fig.
4B). In the same sample the amounts of Tdc and
Str mRNAs were also reduced compared with the PE-induced
sample, whereas the level of Rps9 mRNA was not affected.
These results indicate that upstream of the octadecanoid pathway one or
more protein kinases mediate the signaling triggered by PE, leading to
jasmonate biosynthesis. The fact that K-252a and staurosporine both
inhibited a broad range of protein kinases precludes any speculation
about their identity.
We tested the effect of the protein phosphatase inhibitors calyculin A
and OA on the expression of TIA biosynthetic genes. Addition of the
protein phosphatase inhibitor calyculin A at 500 nM induced
the accumulation of Tdc and Str mRNA in the
absence of elicitor. The protein phosphatase inhibitor OA did not
induce TIA biosynthetic gene expression in the absence of elicitor at the concentrations tested (Fig. 4A). We also tested the effect of the
protein phosphatase inhibitors in the presence of MeJA. Treatment with
either calyculin A or OA at 500 nM had no effect on the amounts of Tdc and Str transcripts induced
by MeJA. Calyculin A and OA had no effect on the level of
Rps9 mRNA. The induction of gene expression by calyculin A
indicates that a protein phosphatase may be involved in the attenuation
of TIA biosynthetic gene expression. The results show that protein
kinase(s) mediated the elicitor-induced signal both upstream and
downstream of the octadecanoid pathway and that protein phosphatase(s)
was involved in attenuating the signal.
The Str Promoter Responds to Elicitor and MeJA
To test whether elicitor- and MeJA-induced mRNA accumulation is
due to transcriptional activation, an Str promoter fragment fused to the gusA reporter gene was introduced in
suspension-cultured C. roseus cells through particle
bombardment. Each transgenic cell line was a mixed population,
estimated to consist of thousands of independent transformants. The
transgene expression level therefore reflected an average and can be
considered to be independent of the chromosomal position or copy
number. Four independent mixed cell populations were generated. Figure
5 shows the expression of the
gusA gene driven by 396 bp of the Str promoter
upstream of the translational start codon (fragment BH). In transgenic cells incubated with PE or MeJA, gusA mRNA accumulated as
compared with the noninduced control (Fig. 5). The responses of the
transgene and the endogenous Str gene were qualitatively
similar in each independent cell line. It can be concluded that
elicitor and MeJA induce transcription directed by the BH fragment of
the Str promoter.

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| Figure 5.
The Str promoter responds to
elicitor and MeJA mRNA levels of gusA,
Str and Rps9 in independent transgenic
cell lines containing the BH construct (BH#1, BH#2, BH#3, and BH#4).
Cells were incubated for 6 h with DMSO as a control (C) or with PE
or MeJA. RNA (20 µg) was loaded per lane.
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DISCUSSION |
For wound-inducible proteinase inhibitor synthesis it has been
well established that the octadecanoid pathway is involved in signal
transduction, leading to transcriptional activation of proteinase
inhibitor genes. The involvement of the octadecanoid pathway in
elicitor-inducible expression of genes active in secondary metabolism,
however, has not been as well characterized. In this study we
established the involvement of the octadecanoid pathway in
elicitor-induced transcriptional activation of genes of the TIA
biosynthetic pathway in C. roseus cells.
Both Str and Tdc were up-regulated in response to
low levels of exogenous MeJA and higher levels of the jasmonate
precursor -linolenic acid. These results are in agreement with the
observation that C. roseus seedlings (Aerts et al., 1994 )
and suspension-cultured cells (Gantet et al., 1998 ) can accumulate TIAs
in response to MeJA and imply that octadecanoids stimulate TIA
metabolism via induction of the biosynthetic genes. Furthermore, we
observed a transient stimulation of endogenous jasmonate accumulation
by the PE, which corresponded with the induction of the TIA
biosynthetic genes Tdc and Str. A similar
transient increase in endogenous JA was reported for the
Rauvolfia, Agrostis, Eschscholtzia,
Phaseolus, and Taxus species, as well as in rice
and tobacco cell suspensions in response to elicitors (Gundlach et al.,
1992 ; Mueller et al., 1993 ; Nojiri et al., 1996 ; Rickauer et al.,
1997 ). However, it is not just elicitors that can trigger a transient
increase in endogenous JA in plants; wounding (Peña-Cortés
et al., 1995 ; O'Donnell et al., 1996 ) and UV radiation (Conconi et
al., 1996 ) can also cause this increase. Together with our results,
these data suggest a general role for the octadecanoid pathway in
induced defense responses. Elevation of the level of JA in the plant
cell seems to be sufficient to induce defense responses. Alternatively, elevated jasmonate levels could serve to lower the threshold for induction of a specific defense response by a pathogenic signal (Wasternack and Parthier, 1997 ). According to the latter scenario, a
defined signal leads to a distinct response output due to a specific
signal transduction cascade in combination with general, obligatory
signaling. In both cases, inhibition of the octadecanoid pathway would
leave plant cells unresponsive to the stress signal, thus inhibiting
the induction of defense responses.
Inhibitors of jasmonate biosynthesis are useful for determining a
direct involvement of the octadecanoid pathway in response to external
stress. The induction of proteinase inhibitor genes in tomato by
wounding and systemin can be blocked by DIECA (Farmer et al., 1994 ) and
by acetyl-salicylic acid (Doares et al., 1995a ). Nojiri et al. (1996)
showed ibuprofen to be a potent inhibitor of elicitor-induced
phytoalexin production in rice suspension cultures. In the current
study in which suspension-cultured C. roseus cells were
used, DIECA inhibited elicitor-induced TIA biosynthetic gene
expression. This octadecanoid pathway inhibitor acts on the octadecanoid intermediate 13-S-hydroperoxylinolenic
acid, and inhibited only elicitor-induced Tdc and
Str gene expression; it did not affect the levels of
Rsp9 mRNA (which encodes the 40S ribosomal protein S9). The
results obtained using JA biosynthesis inhibitors should be interpreted
with caution because these inhibitors may not be very specific. DIECA,
for example, is also used as a free radical scavenger (Jabs et al.,
1997 ). When we used other known inhibitors of the octadecanoid pathway,
we found that they were not specific in our system. The lipoxygenase
inhibitors ibuprofen and acetyl-salicylic acid inhibited elicitor- and
MeJA-induced Tdc and Str mRNA accumulation but
also had a strong negative effect on the level of Rps9
transcript. This indicates that these substances may be phytotoxic or
that they may down-regulate transcription in general. These
observations point out that it is important to evaluate the effect of
these inhibitors on so-called housekeeping genes such as
Rsp9.
Relatively little is known about the activation of jasmonate
biosynthesis in response to stress. There is some evidence for protein
kinases acting upstream of the octadecanoid pathway in elicitor- and
wounding-induced responses (Blechert et al., 1995 ; Seo et al., 1995 ).
The inhibition of PE-induced accumulation of endogenous JA in C. roseus cells by the protein kinase inhibitor K-252a suggests the
need for protein phosphorylation in elicitor-induced signaling leading
to stimulation of JA biosynthesis. Because K-252a inhibits a broad
range of protein kinases, no conclusion can be made about the nature of
the kinase(s) involved. However, Seo et al. (1995) suggested that a
mitogen-activated protein kinase in tobacco may be a mediator of wound
signal transduction upstream of the octadecanoid pathway. More
recently, Stratmann and Ryan, (1997) showed that wounding and systemin
in tomato plants can activate a mitogen-activated protein
kinase-related kinase upstream of the octadecanoid pathway. Based on
these results one might speculate that the kinase(s) acting upstream of
the octadecanoid pathway in C. roseus is a member of the
mitogen-activated protein kinase family. Downstream of the octadecanoid
pathway one or more protein kinases are involved in transducing the JA
signal. A protein kinase (cascade) ultimately changes the activity of
transcription factors that regulate the expression of genes through the
recognition of specific sequences in the promoter regions.
A number of cis-acting elements in the promoters of
defense-related genes in diverse plant species that mediate responses to elicitors (Raventós et al., 1995 ; Rushton et al., 1996 )
or to MeJA (Kim et al., 1992 ; Xiang et al., 1996 ; Rouster et al., 1997 )
have been identified. Using transgenic C. roseus suspensions harboring Str promoter/gusA fusions we have
demonstrated that elicitor- and MeJA-induced activation of
Str gene expression occurs at the transcriptional level. In
the Str promoter a region of 396 bp directly upstream of the
translational start codon (BH) was sufficient to confer elicitor- and
MeJA-responsive expression. This region of the Str promoter
contains a G-box, an element that Kim et al. (1992) implicated in
MeJA-responsive proteinase inhibitor II gene expression in potato.
Detailed analysis of the Str promoter using 5 and internal
deletion mutants is required to reveal whether the G-box is an
important element in the Str promoter.
Figure 6 shows a hypothetical model that
is consistent with the results described in this article. Elicitation
of TIA biosynthetic gene expression is mediated through protein
phosphorylation and the octadecanoid pathway leading to jasmonate. We
have shown here that in C. roseus cells upstream of the
octadecanoid pathway and downstream of jasmonate, one or more protein
kinases are involved in mediating the signal toward Tdc and
Str gene expression.

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| Figure 6.
Model for elicitor signal transduction leading to
TIA biosynthetic gene expression. The model shows the involvement of
protein phosphorylation and the octadecanoid pathway in
elicitor-induced TIA biosynthetic gene expression. Figure was adapted
from Farmer and Ryan (1992) . PK, Protein kinase; PP, protein
phosphatase; TAF, transcription-activating factor.
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 |
FOOTNOTES |
*
Corresponding author; e-mail
memelink{at}rulbim.leidenuniv.nl; fax 31-71-5275088.
Received September 21, 1998;
accepted December 8, 1998.
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ABBREVIATIONS |
Abbreviations:
BH, BglII/HincII.
DIECA, diethyldithiocarbamic acid.
JA, jasmonic acid.
MeJA, methyl jasmonate.
OA, okadaic acid.
PE, partially purified YE elicitor.
TIA, terpenoid
indole alkaloid.
YE, yeast extract.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
The authors acknowledge Marga Harteveld for excellent assistance
with purification of the PE and Leslie van der Fits for help with the
transformation of C. roseus suspension-cultured cells.
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