Nitrogen represses haustoria formation through abscisic acid in the parasitic plant Phtheirospermum japonicum.
Nat Commun
; 13(1): 2976, 2022 05 27.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35624089
ABSTRACT
Parasitic plants are globally prevalent pathogens that withdraw nutrients from their host plants using an organ known as the haustorium. The external environment including nutrient availability affects the extent of parasitism and to understand this phenomenon, we investigated the role of nutrients and found that nitrogen is sufficient to repress haustoria formation in the root parasite Phtheirospermum japonicum. Nitrogen increases levels of abscisic acid (ABA) in P. japonicum and prevents the activation of hundreds of genes including cell cycle and xylem development genes. Blocking ABA signaling overcomes nitrogen's inhibitory effects indicating that nitrogen represses haustoria formation by increasing ABA. The effect of nitrogen appears more widespread since nitrogen also inhibits haustoria in the obligate root parasite Striga hermonthica. Together, our data show that nitrogen acts as a haustoria repressing factor and suggests a mechanism whereby parasitic plants use nitrogen availability in the external environment to regulate the extent of parasitism.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Parasites
/
Orobanchaceae
Limits:
Animals
Language:
En
Journal:
Nat Commun
Journal subject:
BIOLOGIA
/
CIENCIA
Year:
2022
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Suecia