This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (33) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Pasqualini, S. Articles by Ferranti, F. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Pasqualini, S. Articles by Ferranti, F. Agricola Articles by Pasqualini, S. Articles by Ferranti, F.

ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS AND ADAPTATION

Ozone-Induced Cell Death in Tobacco Cultivar Bel W3 Plants. The Role of Programmed Cell Death in Lesion Formation

Dipartimento di Biologia Vegetale e Biotecnologie Agroambientali (S.P., C.P., L.R., L.E., F.F.), and Dipartimento di Arboricultura e Protezione delle Piante (G.D.T.), Università degli Studi di Perugia, Borgo XX Giugno, 74–06121 Perugia, Italy

Treatment of the ozone-sensitive tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv Bel W3) with an ozone pulse (150 nL L^–1 for 5 h) induced visible injury, which manifested 48 to 72 h from onset of ozone fumigation. The "classical" ozone symptoms in tobacco cv Bel W3 plants occur as sharply defined, dot-like lesions on the adaxial side of the leaf and result from the death of groups of palisade cells. We investigated whether this reaction had the features of a hypersensitive response like that which results from the incompatible plant-pathogen interaction. We detected an oxidative burst, the result of H₂O₂ accumulation at 12 h from the starting of fumigation. Ozone treatment induced deposition of autofluorescent compounds and callose 24 h from the start of treatment. Total phenolic content was also strongly stimulated at the 10th and 72nd h from starting fumigation, concomitant with an enhancement in phenylalanine ammonia-lyase a and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase b expression, as evaluated by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. There was also a marked, but transient, increase in the mRNA level of pathogenesis-related-1a, a typical hypersensitive response marker. Overall, these results are evidence that ozone triggers a hypersensitive response in tobacco cv Bel W3 plants. We adopted four criteria for detecting programmed cell death in ozonated tobacco cv Bel W3 leaves: (a) early release of cytochrome c from mitochondria; (b) activation of protease; (c) DNA fragmentation by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling of DNA 3'-OH groups; and (d) ultrastructural changes characteristic of programmed cell death, including chromatin condensation and blebbing of plasma membrane. We, therefore, provide evidence that ozone-induced oxidative stress triggers a cell death program in tobacco cv Bel W3.

^* Corresponding author; e-mail antmfisveg{at}unipg.it; fax 39–075–5856425.

Received May 8, 2003; returned for revision June 27, 2003; accepted July 20, 2003.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. Wang, S. Narendra, and N. Fedoroff Heterotrimeric G protein signaling in the Arabidopsis unfolded protein response PNAS, March 6, 2007; 104(10): 3817 - 3822. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. Ederli, R. Morettini, A. Borgogni, C. Wasternack, O. Miersch, L. Reale, F. Ferranti, N. Tosti, and S. Pasqualini Interaction between Nitric Oxide and Ethylene in the Induction of Alternative Oxidase in Ozone-Treated Tobacco Plants Plant Physiology, October 1, 2006; 142(2): 595 - 608. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Z. Chen and D. R. Gallie Increasing Tolerance to Ozone by Elevating Foliar Ascorbic Acid Confers Greater Protection against Ozone Than Increasing Avoidance Plant Physiology, July 1, 2005; 138(3): 1673 - 1689. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. Overmyer, M. Brosche, R. Pellinen, T. Kuittinen, H. Tuominen, R. Ahlfors, M. Keinanen, M. Saarma, D. Scheel, and J. Kangasjarvi Ozone-Induced Programmed Cell Death in the Arabidopsis radical-induced cell death1 Mutant Plant Physiology, March 1, 2005; 137(3): 1092 - 1104. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]