Inheritance of Resistance to Fusarium Wilt in Sweet Basil.

Fusarium wilt, caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. bacilici, is a severe disease of sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) and has become acute mainly due to the intensive monoculture in green-houses and, recently, to prohibition of methyl bromide application. In a previous work, we selected a resistant cultivar, Nufar, to address this problem. The mode of inheritance of resistance to F. oxysporum f. sp. bacilici in sweet basil was examined in progenies derived from crosses of the homogeneous resistant cv. Nufar and the susceptible homogenous cv. Chen. Artificial inoculation of seedlings with a high concentration of a microconidial suspension of a virulent isolate of F. oxysporum f. sp. bacilici revealed no difference between reciprocal backcrosses. The nuclear resistance analysis and dominant characteristics of the resistance of backcross progenies of different parental lines and the segregation for resistance in F2 combinations fitted the expected Mendelian ratio for a single dominant gene with two alleles that confer resistance to Fusarium wilt in basil. These results indicate the usefulness of utilizing this resistance to F. oxysporum f.sp. bacilici in the production of new hybrids and cultivars of basil.

Dynamics of yield components and essential oil production in a commercial hybrid sage (Salvia officinalis x Salvia fruticosa cv. Newe Ya'ar no. 4).

The fresh yields, the essential oil content, and the quality of a sage hybrid (Salvia officinalis x Salvia fruticosa, cv. Newe Ya'ar No. 4, Lamiaceae) as affected by development and harvest time were determined. Marked increases in plant height and in the number of nodes developed per plant together with a modest increase in leaf size were accompanied by dramatic increases (more than 20-fold) in the fresh yields throughout a 50-day growth period. No major changes in the essential oil content per fresh weight and its composition were detected throughout the growth period. In contrast, the compositions of the essential oils obtained from stems, as compared to leaves and leaf-primordia, had marked differences. Developmentally controlled changes in the extractives from individual leaf pairs from the same plant were also noted. In upper young leaves, the oxygenated diterpene manool and the sesquiterpene hydrocarbons alpha-humulene and beta-caryophyllene constituted up to 20%, 8%, and 4% of the total extractives, respectively. In older leaves, the abundance of these components steadily dropped to roughly half their levels in young leaves. Conversely, the proportions of the monoterpenes, particularly the ketones camphor and alpha-thujone, steadily increased with leaf position. Minor changes in the levels of other extractives were also recorded. These studies imply independent regulatory patterns for di-, sesqui-, and monoterpenes in this sage hybrid, and suggest possible agrotechnical means to obtain preferred chemical compositions of its essential oil.

The relative effect of citral on mitotic microtubules in wheat roots and BY2 cells.

The plant volatile monoterpene citral is a highly active compound with suggested allelopathic traits. Seed germination and seedling development are inhibited in the presence of citral, and it disrupts microtubules in both plant and animal cells in interphase. We addressed the following additional questions: can citral interfere with cell division; what is the relative effect of citral on mitotic microtubules compared to interphase cortical microtubules; what is its effect on newly formed cell plates; and how does it affect the association of microtubules with γ-tubulin? In wheat seedlings, citral led to inhibition of root elongation, curvature of newly formed cell walls and deformation of microtubule arrays. Citral's effect on microtubules was both dose- and time-dependent, with mitotic microtubules appearing to be more sensitive to citral than cortical microtubules. Association of γ-tubulin with microtubules was more sensitive to citral than were the microtubules themselves. To reveal the role of disrupted mitotic microtubules in dictating aberrations in cell plates in the presence of citral, we used tobacco BY2 cells expressing GFP-Tua6. Citral disrupted mitotic microtubules, inhibited the cell cycle and increased the frequency of asymmetric cell plates in these cells. The time scale of citral's effect in BY2 cells suggested a direct influence on cell plates during their formation. Taken together, we suggest that at lower concentrations, citral interferes with cell division by disrupting mitotic microtubules and cell plates, and at higher concentrations it inhibits cell elongation by disrupting cortical microtubules.

Biosynthesis of estragole and methyl-eugenol in sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L). Developmental and chemotypic association of allylphenol O-methyltransferase activities.

Sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L., Lamiaceae) is a common herb, used for culinary and medicinal purposes. The essential oils of different sweet basil chemotypes contain various proportions of the allyl phenol derivatives estragole (methyl chavicol), eugenol, and methyl eugenol, as well as the monoterpene alcohol linalool. To monitor the developmental regulation of estragole biosynthesis in sweet basil, an enzymatic assay for S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM):chavicol O-methyltransferase activity was developed. Young leaves display high levels of chavicol O-methyltransferase activity, but the activity was negligible in older leaves, indicating that the O-methylation of chavicol primarily occurs early during leaf development. The O-methyltransferase activities detected in different sweet basil genotypes differed in their substrate specificities towards the methyl acceptor substrate. In the high-estragole-containing chemotype R3, the O-methyltransferase activity was highly specific for chavicol, while eugenol was virtually not O-methylated. In contrast, chemotype 147/97, that contains equal levels of estragole and methyl eugenol, displayed O-methyltransferase activities that accepted both chavicol and eugenol as substrates, generating estragole and methyl eugenol, respectively. Chemotype SW that contains high levels of eugenol, but lacks both estragole and methyl eugenol, had apparently no allylphenol dependent O-methyltransferase activities. These results indicate the presence of at least two types of allylphenol-specific O-methyltransferase activities in sweet basil chemotypes, one highly specific for chavicol; and a different one that can accept eugenol as a substrate. The relative availability and substrate specificities of these O-methyltransferase activities biochemically rationalizes the variation in the composition of the essential oils of these chemotypes.