title: Change of biotransformation steps of formaldehyde cycle in water-melon plants after infection with Fusarium oxysporum.
abstract: Recent experiments indicate that the measurable formaldehyde (HCHO) level is considerably elevated in the parts of water-melon plants immediately after a nonlethal infection with Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum. At the same time the level of some quaternary ammonium compounds (N(epsilon)-trimethyl-L-lysine, choline) as potential HCHO generators (gene products) is considerably decreased. That is probably due to the fact that the alarm reaction phase of this biotic stress syndrome includes an intensive demethylation process. It has been proved that HCHO may play a role in dynamic methylation-demethylation processes that also may include the methylation of biotic stress proteins. In this paper we report on qualitative and quantitative changes in the biotransformation steps of the formaldehyde cycle in different parts of the water-melon plant after nonlethal infection (biotic stress) with Fusarium. In consequence of the infection identical quantitative changes, but to a different degree, of the compounds examined are observable in both varieties. The connections resulting from the depiction of the time-dependent quantitative changes of the measured methylated compounds due to infection show a picture similar to that of Selye's stress syndrome model.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, University of Horticulture and Food Industry, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sárdi
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tyihák
mesh_terms: D001711:Biotransformation; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D005557:Formaldehyde / Q000378:metabolism*; D005638:Fruit / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology; D005670:Fusarium / Q000378:metabolism*; D010935:Plant Diseases
chemical_list: D005557:Formaldehyde