The Roles of Alpha-Momorcharin and Jasmonic Acid in Modulating the Response of Momordica charantia to Cucumber Mosaic Virus

Abstract

Alpha-momorcharin (α-MMC) is a type-I ribosome inactivating protein with a molecular weight of 29 kDa that is found in Momordica charantia, and has been shown to be effective against a broad range of human viruses as well as having anti-tumor activities. However, the role of endogenous α-MMC under viral infection and the mechanism of the anti-viral activities of α-MMC in plants are still unknown. To study the effect of α-MMC on plant viral defense and how α-MMC increases plant resistance to virus, the M. charantia–cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) interaction system was investigated. The results showed that the α-MMC level was positively correlated with the resistance of M. charantia to CMV. α-MMC treatment could alleviate photosystem damage and enhance the ratio of glutathione/glutathione disulfide in M. charantia under CMV infection. The relationship of α-MMC and defense related phytohormones, and their roles in plant defense were further investigated. α-MMC treatment led to a significant increase of jasmonic acid (JA) and vice versa, while there was no obvious relevance between salicylic acid and α-MMC. In addition, reactive oxygen species (ROS) were induced in α-MMC-pretreated plants, in a similar way to the ROS burst in JA-pretreated plants. The production of ROS in both ibuprofen (JA inhibitor) and (α-MMC+ibuprofen)-pretreated plants was reduced markedly, leading to a greater susceptibility of M. charantia to CMV. Our results indicate that the anti-viral activities of α-MMC in M. charantia may be accomplished through the JA related signaling pathway.

QTL Mapping Using a High-Density Genetic Map to Identify Candidate Genes Associated With Metribuzin Tolerance in Hexaploid Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

“…The candidate gene encodes a ribosome-inactivating protein related to the defense response. The results are consistent with those of Yang et al (2016), who reported a positive correlation between the level of ribosomeinactivating protein (RIP) and resistance to cucumber mosaic virus in Momordica charantia. RIPs can induce apoptosis in a wide variety of cells (Narayanan et al, 2005), which plays a role in the regulation of cell death induced by the herbicide.…”

The Plant Ribosome-Inactivating Proteins Play Important Roles in Defense against Pathogens and Insect Pest Attacks

“…Furthermore, application of α-MMC can increase the expression of NPR1, PR1 , and PR2 in tobacco plants, which strongly indicates that the plant systemic resistance can be activated by α-MMC against multiple viruses ( Zhu et al, 2013 ). Furthermore, application of α-MMC in M. charantia led to a significant increase of JA indicated that the anti-viral activities of α-MMC in M. charantia may be accomplished through the JA related signaling pathway ( Yang et al, 2016 ). Therefore, it may be a candidate for the development of virus resistant crop plants, for instance cotton, tobacco, rice, tea, and clover.…”

Integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses of a wax deficient citrus mutant exhibiting jasmonic acid-mediated defense against fungal pathogens

“…‘Lane late’ navel orange, late mature Citrus clementina , WT and MT fruit were dipped in 10 μM MeJA for 10 min and distilled water was used as a control as described by Droby et al 25 . For the JA inhibitor treatment, above-mentioned fruit were dipped in 100 μM PG (Sigma-Aldrich), 100 μM IBU (Sigma-Aldrich) and 1.5 mM DIECA (Sigma-Aldrich) for 30 min, and distilled water was used as control 20 – 22 . The inoculation and incubation followed the same procedures described above.…”

“…The natural variation in allene oxide synthase2 ( AOS2 ) in potato affects the level of jasmonate and influences pathogen resistance in Arabidopsis 3 . The inhibitors of JA synthesis pathway are diethyldithiocarbamic acid (DIECA, an AOS inhibitor), ibuprofen (IBU, a lipoxygenase inhibitor) and n-propyl gallate (PG, a less specific inhibitor of both LOX and allene oxide cyclase (AOC)) 20 – 22 . The orthologs of Arabidopsis 13-LOXs , AOC , and AOS are actively present in citrus 23 , 24 .…”

“…The orthologs of Arabidopsis 13-LOXs , AOC , and AOS are actively present in citrus 23 , 24 . Exogenous application of JA biosynthesis inhibitors and MeJA impact the plant responses to fungal stresses 22 , 24 , 25 . Although JA and the cuticle are both derived from FA synthesis in plastids 26 , few natural variations are known to affect both the cuticle and jasmonates.…”