Active changes of lignification-related enzymes in pepper response to Glomus intraradices and/or Phytophthora capsici

INTRODUCTION Plants have defense mechanisms against patho-gen infection by inducing systemic resistance in re-sponse to localized pretreatment with biological cotrol agents, thus making them resistant to subsequpathogen infection (Caruso et al., 1999; Hammschmidt, 1999; Mohammadi and Kazemi, 2002; yada et al., 1995; Pozo et al., 2002; Ray et al., 199Biological control of plant pathogens has receivmuch more attention. It is well known that plants amicroorganisms symbiosis is a defense m…

Active changes of lignification-related enzymes in pepper response to Glomus intraradices and/or Phytophthora capsici

The activities of enzymes responsible for lignification in pepper, pre-inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM)fungus of Glomus intraradices and/or infection with pathogenic strain ofPhytophthora capsici, and the biological control effect of G. intraradices on Phytophthora blight in pepper were investigated. The experiment was carried out with four treatments: (1)plants pre-inoculated with G. intraradices (Gi), (2) plants pre-inoculated with G. intraradices and then infected with P. capsici(Gi Pc), (3) plants infected with P. capsici (Pc), and (4) plants without any of the two microorganisms (C). Mycorrhizal colonization rate was reduced by about 10% in pathogen challenged plants. Root mortality caused by infection ofP. capsici was completely eliminated by pre-inoculation with antagonistic G. intraradices. On the ninth day after pathogen infection, Peroxidase(POD) activity increased by 116.9% in Pc-treated roots but by only 21.2% in Gi Pc-treated roots, compared with the control,respectively. Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activities gradually increased during the first 3 d and dramatically decreased in Pc-treated roots but slightly decreased in Gi Pc-treated roots, respectively. On the ninth day after pathogen infection, PPO and PAL decreased by 62.8% and 73.9% in Pc-treated roots but by only 19.8% and 19.5% in Gi Pc-treated roots, compared with the control, respectively. Three major POD isozymes (45000, 53000 and 114000) were present in Pc-treated roots, while two major bands (53000 and 114000) and one minor band (45000) were present in spectra of Gi Pc-treated roots, the 45000 POD isozyme was significantly suppressed by G. intraradices, suggesting that the 45000 POD isozyme was induced by the pathogen infection but not induced by the antagonistic G. intraradices. A 60000 PPO isozyme was induced in Pc-treated roots but not induced in Gi Pc-treated roots. All these results showed the inoculation of antagonistic G.intraradices alleviates root mortality, activates changes of lignification-related enzymes and induces some of the isozymes in pepper plants infected by P. capsici. The results suggested that G. intraradices is a potentially effective protection agent against P.capsici.