Involvement of phytohormones in root elongation activity of isoprothiolane in Arabidopsis

Signal communication during microbial modulation of root system architecture

Every living organism on Earth depends on its interactions with other organisms. In the rhizosphere, plants and microorganisms constantly exchange signals and influence each other's behavior. Recent studies have shown that many beneficial rhizosphere microbes can produce specific signaling molecules that affect plant root architecture and therefore could have substantial effects on above-ground growth. This review examines these chemical signals and summarizes their mechanisms of action, with the aim of enhancing our understanding of plant-microbe interactions and providing references for the comprehensive development and utilization of these active components in agricultural production. In addition, we highlight future research directions and challenges, such as searching for microbial signals to induce primary root development.

Studies on regulation of plant physiology by pesticides

Some agrochemicals have unique activities on plant, which modes of actions differ from those of herbicides and plant growth regulators. Because these induce useful and important phenotypic characteristics by activating physiological mechanisms in plant cell, understanding the underlying mechanism of their activities should be crucial for plant physiology and agriculture. As examples of such agrochemicals, studies on agrochemicals that activate the plant immune systems or root elongation, are described. Plant activators, inducers of systemic acquired resistance, were divided into two types, acting on upstream and downstream of salicylic acid (SA) biosynthesis, respectively. They have been useful research tools to clarify the regulation mechanism of SA-mediated disease resistance and to investigate another type of disease resistance mechanism mediated by brassinosteroids. By analyzing the roles of phytohormones in the isoprothiolane-induced root elongation indicated a positive effect of jasmonic acid and ethylene on primary root elongation. These types of research, categorized to one of chemical biology, would provide novel insight into plant physiology, which also contribute to control of crops.

Studies on the mechanism of agricultural chemicals focused on plant hormone signals

In recent years, it has become clear that the crosstalk of various plant hormones controls plant growth and disease resistance. Plant hormone signals may also be involved in the actions of a variety of pesticides and disease control techniques used for crop protection. From this point of view, we have focused on plant hormones to analyze the mode of action of pesticides that function in plants. Disease resistance inducers are pesticides that induce systemic acquired resistance (SAR) by activating the salicylic acid (SA)-mediated signaling pathway. However, when under unfavorable climate conditions, such as cold and cloudy weather, the resistance inducers are not sufficiently effective. Since the environmental stress response mediated by abscisic acid (ABA) may affect disease resistance, extensive studies of tobacco and tomato plants were performed, which clarified that SAR induction was suppressed by ABA. On the other hand, it was shown that transient high temperature treatment enhanced disease resistance via SA biosynthesis. These results suggest that changes in temperature due to climate change have an impact on disease resistance. The mode of action of a plant-growth regulator was analyzed by focusing on plant hormones. Isoprothiolane (IPT), an active ingredient of Fuji-one, is used as a plant-growth regulator and a fungicide. In Arabidopsis thaliana, we demonstrated that jasmonic acid and ethylene are required for the root elongation-promoting effect of IPT. As shown above, mode-of-action studies on pesticides in relation to plant hormones will lead to the development of new techniques for the better cultivation and protection of crops.

Isolation of isolactarane sesquiterpenes from a Phlebia tremellosa culture filtrate and their growth promotion effects on lettuce roots

The ethyl acetate extract of the culture filtrate of Phlebia tremellosa promoted elongation of the lateral roots of lettuce seedlings at 250 µg/mL. We purified two compounds that promote root elongation by using activity-guided chromatographic fractionation. On the basis of spectroscopic analyses, these compounds were identified to be isolactarane sesquiterpenes derived from the dehydrogenation of merulactone, which was previously isolated from the same species. We named the purified compounds phlelactones A and B. Phlelactones A and B promoted primary root elongation at 100-300 and 10-30 µg/mL and the elongation and formation of lateral roots at 300-1000 and 30-100 µg/mL, respectively.

Activation of cell proliferation in Arabidopsis root meristem by isoprothiolane

A plant growth regulating agent "Fuji-one" has been used to control non-parasitic damping-off (Murenae disease) of rice seedlings. Its active ingredient, isoprothiolane (diisopropyl 1,3-dithiolan-2-ylidenemalonate, IPT), enhances root elongation of rice and Arabidopsis. To understand the mechanisms of IPT's effect on root development, its effect on Arabidopsis root cells was investigated histologically. IPT at a lower concentration (12.5 µg/mL) had no effect on root cell elongation, whereas it enhanced cell division in the root meristem. Histological analysis using phytohormone-related mutants indicated that jasmonic acid and ethylene were involved in the enhanced cell division. In contrast, IPT at a higher concentration (75 µg/mL) suppressed both cell elongation and cell division, in which jasmonic acid and ethylene were not involved. In addition, root hair formation was suppressed by treatment with IPT. These analyses demonstrated that IPT (12.5 µg/mL) enhanced root elongation by activating cell division in a jasmonic acid- and ethylene-dependent manner.