Weapons Of War Flashcards
What are the two components of plant defence?
Spatial
Temporal
What is a spatial defence?
„The defence of a medieval castle - outer and inner walls surrounded by a moat“
What is the temporal defence?
The production of defences following the attack as well as during plant development
What is the first point of contact between a plant and its attacker?
The cuticle
How does the cuticle help attackers?
Differnces in cuticular waxes can be used by specialist insects
The waxes are also important cues for the development of various fungi on the leaf surface
What is the cell wall capable of?
Providing structure for the cell as well as protection against outside stresses
What is the cell wall composed of?
Cellulose
A long chain of linked sugars (gives wood its strength)
What does the glucose in the cell wall form?
Dietary fiber
How are the bundled cellulose fibers called?
Microfibrils
What are microfibrils cross - linked with?
Hemicelluloses - this provides great strength to the structure
What are the fibers of the cell walls embedded in?
Pectins
What are secondary cell walls frequently impregnated with?
With lignin
A polymer composed of phenolic compounds, which provides great rigidity to the cell wall
Lignified cell walls are highly impermeable to pathogens
How can pathogens breach these cell wall?
By using a cocktail of enzymes capable of breaking down the individual components
What are enzymes to breach the cell wall
Cellulases
Hemicellulases
Pectinases
What does xylanase degrade?
The linear backbone of xylan - the major hemicellulose in cell walls
What do Polygalacturonase enzymes degrade?
The pectic backbone of the cell wall, which is comprised of homogalacturonan
How is the homogalacturonan protected by in newly formed pectin?
By the addition of methyl (CH3) groups (They are methyl esterified)
How do pathogens overcome the methyl groups of the homogalacturonan?
By methylesterase which removes the methyl groups - now the pathogen can break down the homogalacturonan
Why do plants increase their own pectin methylesterases?
The plant is stimulating the release of cell wall fragments with this (DAMPS) that therefore activate defences
Why are pectin methylerases important to the ability of some pathogens to infect their hosts?
Pectin methylerases can be inhibited by specific proteins that are used to regulate the cell wall
When overexpressing these inhibitor genes in a plant the pathogens ability to infect the plants is greatly reduced
How does the plant protect itself from these enzymes?
By producig proteins that are capable of inhibiting the component enzymes
What are examples for enzyme inhibitors?
Xylanase inhibitors
PGIPs (polygalacturonase inhibitor proteins)
Where are PGIPs located?
In the cell wall - it can limit fungal invasion
How does a fungal polygalacturonase work?
1.They attack the pectin in the cell wall
2. By doing this, cell wall fragments get released - the polygalacturonases reduces these fragments to a size that doesnt trigger defences
How does the plants PGIPs cope with the fungal polygalacturonases?
How do plants degrade the fungal cell walls?
By producing chitinases ans glucanases, that attack these components in the fungal cell walls.
Plants dont contain chitin, so it is thought that these chitinases are for fungal protection only
How can fungi overcome these chitinases?
The tomato leaf mold produces a protein which binds to its own cell wall, that protects the fungus against the tomatos chitinases
This protein binds any fragments of chitin liberated by plant chitinase
One fungus produces the enzyme called fungalysin which cleaves and inactivates the defensive chitinases produced by its plant hosts
What are wheat antimicrobial peptides
Molecules in plants (not just in wheat!!) that inhibit hyphal growth