Induction of defense responses in cultured parsley cells by plant cell wall fragments.

Cell suspension cultures of parsley (Petroselinum crispum) accumulated coumarin phytoalexins and exhibited increased beta-1,3-glucanase activity when treated with either a purified alpha-1,4-d-endopolygalacturonic acid lyase from Erwinia carotovora or oligogalacturonides solubilized from parsley cell walls by endopolygalacturonic acid lyase. Coumarin accumulation induced by the plant cell wall elicitor was preceded by increases in the activities of phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), 4-coumarate:CoA ligase (4CL) and S-adenosyl-l-methionine:xanthotoxol O-methyltransferase (XMT). The time courses for the changes in these three enzyme activities were similar to those observed in cell cultures treated with a fungal glucan elicitor. The plant cell wall elicitor was found to act synergistically with the fungal glucan elicitor in the induction of coumarin phytoalexins. As much as a 10-fold stimulation in coumarin accumulation above the calculated additive response was observed in cell cultures treated with combinations of plant and fungal elicitors. The synergistic effect was also observed for the induction of PAL, 4CL, and XMT activities. These results demonstrate that plant cell wall elicitors induce at least two distinct biochemical responses in parsley cells and further support the role of oligogalacturonides as important regulators of plant defense.