Tentacles of in vitro-grown round-leaf sundew (Drosera rotundifoliaL.) show induction of chitinase activity upon mimicking the presence of prey

Abstract

Induction of plant-derived chitinases in the leaves of a carnivorous plant was demonstrated using aseptically grown round-leaf sundew (Drosera rotundifolia L.). The presence of insect prey was mimicked by placing the chemical inducers gelatine, salicylic acid and crustacean chitin on leaves. In addition, mechanical stirring of tentacles was performed. Chitinase activity was markedly increased in leaf exudates upon application of notably chitin. Application of gelatine increased the proteolytic activity of leaf exudates, indicating that the reaction of sundew leaves depends on the molecular nature of the inducer applied. In situ hybridization of sundew leaves with a Drosera chitinase probe showed chitinase gene expression in different cell types of nontreated leaves, but not in the secretory cells of the glandular heads. Upon induction, chitinase mRNA was also present in the secretory cells of the sundew leaf. The combined results indicate that chitinase is likely to be involved in the decomposition of insect prey by carnivorous plants. This adds a novel role to the already broad function of chitinases in the plant kingdom and may contribute to our understanding of the molecular mechanisms behind the ecological success of carnivorous plants in nutritionally poor environments.

Stress-induced expression of cucumber chitinase and Nicotiana plumbaginifolia β-1,3-glucanase genes in transgenic potato plants

“…In situ hybridisation studies of 6-lm-thick sections, mounted onto poly-L-lysine coated slides, were performed as described in details earlier (Matušíková et al 2005). For preparation of the single-stranded riboprobes, fragments of corresponding chitinase and glucanase genes were subcloned into pBluescript SK+ and linearised with restriction enzymes XhoI and XbaI.…”

Transformation of sundew: pitfalls and promises

“…Previously, Król-icka et al (2010) have succeeded in increasing naphtoquinone production in Agrobacterium rhizogenes induced teratomas of in vitro grown Drosera capensis. More recently, the gene pool of Droseraceae has also attracted scientific interest representing an excellent model system for various physiological, ecological and evolutionary studies (Matušíková et al 2005;Givnish et al 2011;Bauer et al 2012;Renner and Specht 2012;Michalko et al 2013).…”

The role of chitinases and glucanases in somatic embryogenesis of black pine and hybrid firs

“…In normal conditions, chitinases are expressed in low levels in some organs during specific developmental phases, suggesting that some may participate in the processes of development and growth [6][7][8]. Expression of many chitinases is induced by biotic [9,10] and abiotic stimuli [11]. Therefore, their function in defense mechanisms is well known and documented [12][13][14].…”