title: A permeable cuticle in Arabidopsis leads to a strong resistance to Botrytis cinerea.
abstract: The plant cuticle composed of cutin, a lipid-derived polyester, and cuticular waxes covers the aerial portions of plants and constitutes a hydrophobic extracellular matrix layer that protects plants against environmental stresses. The botrytis-resistant 1 (bre1) mutant of Arabidopsis reveals that a permeable cuticle does not facilitate the entry of fungal pathogens in general, but surprisingly causes an arrest of invasion by Botrytis. BRE1 was identified to be long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase2 (LACS2) that has previously been shown to be involved in cuticle development and was here found to be essential for cutin biosynthesis. bre1/lacs2 has a five-fold reduction in dicarboxylic acids, the typical monomers of Arabidopsis cutin. Comparison of bre1/lacs2 with the mutants lacerata and hothead revealed that an increased permeability of the cuticle facilitates perception of putative elicitors in potato dextrose broth, leading to the presence of antifungal compound(s) at the surface of Arabidopsis plants that confer resistance to Botrytis and Sclerotinia. Arabidopsis plants with a permeable cuticle have thus an altered perception of their environment and change their physiology accordingly.
authors: Department of Plant Molecular Biology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Bessire
authors: Céline
authors: C
authors: Chassot
authors: Anne-Claude
authors: AC
authors: Jacquat
authors: Matt
authors: M
authors: Humphry
authors: Sandra
authors: S
authors: Borel
authors: Jean Macdonald-Comber
authors: JM
authors: Petétot
authors: Jean-Pierre
authors: JP
authors: Métraux
authors: Christiane
authors: C
authors: Nawrath
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D020171:Botrytis; D003066:Coenzyme A Ligases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000502:physiology*; D008563:Membrane Lipids / Q000096:biosynthesis; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D010539:Permeability; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D019441:Plant Epidermis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D008563:Membrane Lipids; C000521:cutin; D003066:Coenzyme A Ligases; C523086:LACS2 protein, Arabidopsis