title: Peach leaf curl disease shifts sugar metabolism in severely infected leaves from source to sink.
abstract: Peach leaf curl is a disease that affects the leaves of peach trees, and in severe cases all of the leaf can be similarly affected. This study investigated some effects of this disease on the metabolism of peach leaves in which all parts of the leaf were infected. These diseased leaves contained very little chlorophyll and performed little or no photosynthesis. Compared to uninfected leaves, diseased leaves possessed higher contents of fructose and especially glucose, but lowered contents of sucrose, sorbitol and especially starch. The activities of soluble acid invertase, neutral invertase, sorbitol dehydrogenase and sucrose synthase were all higher in diseased leaves, whereas, those of aldose-6-phosphate reductase and sucrose phosphate synthase were lower. The activities of hexokinase and fructokinase were little changed. In addition, immunblots showed that the contents of Rubisco and ADP-glucose phosphorylase were reduced in diseased leaves, whereas, the content of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase was increased. The results show that certain aspects of the metabolism of diseased leaves are similar to immature sink leaves. That is photosynthetic function is reduced, the leaf imports rather than exports sugars, and the contents of non-structural carbohydrates and enzymes involved in their metabolism are similar to sink leaves. Further, the effects of peach leaf curl on the metabolism of peach leaves are comparable to the effects of some other diseases on the metabolism of photosynthetic organs of other plant species.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Biologia Agroambientale e Forestale, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Viale Marconi 2, 05010 Porano (TR), Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moscatello
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Biologia Agroambientale e Forestale, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Viale Marconi 2, 05010 Porano (TR), Italy.
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Proietti
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Borgo XX Giugno 74, 06100 Perugia, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Buonaurio
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Borgo XX Giugno 74, 06100 Perugia, Italy.
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Famiani
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Borgo XX Giugno 74, 06100 Perugia, Italy.
authors.forename: Vittorio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Raggi
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Borgo XX Giugno 74, 06100 Perugia, Italy. Electronic address: rob.walker@talktalk.net.
authors.forename: Robert P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Biologia Agroambientale e Forestale, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Viale Marconi 2, 05010 Porano (TR), Italy. Electronic address: alberto.battistelli@ibaf.cnr.it.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Battistelli
mesh_terms: D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism; D002241:Carbohydrates / Q000032:analysis; D010788:Photosynthesis; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D000068239:Prunus persica / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D002241:Carbohydrates; D010940:Plant Proteins
keywords: Carbohydrates; Metabolism; Peach leaf curl; Photosynthesis; Prunus persica; Taphrina deformans