Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK.
Stockbridge Technology Centre Ltd, Cawood, Selby, North Yorkshire YO8 3TZ, UK.
New Phytol. 2012 Feb;193(3):770-778. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2011.03987.x. Epub 2011 Dec 5.
• Priming of defence is a strategy employed by plants exposed to stress to enhance resistance against future stress episodes with minimal associated costs on growth. Here, we test the hypothesis that application of priming agents to seeds can result in plants with primed defences. • We measured resistance to arthropod herbivores and disease in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants grown from seed treated with jasmonic acid (JA) and/or β-aminobutryric acid (BABA). • Plants grown from JA-treated seed showed increased resistance against herbivory by spider mites, caterpillars and aphids, and against the necrotrophic fungal pathogen, Botrytis cinerea. BABA seed treatment provided primed defence against powdery mildew disease caused by the biotrophic fungal pathogen, Oidium neolycopersici. Priming responses were long-lasting, with significant increases in resistance sustained in plants grown from treated seed for at least 8 wk, and were associated with enhanced defence gene expression during pathogen attack. There was no significant antagonism between different forms of defence in plants grown from seeds treated with a combination of JA and BABA. • Long-term defence priming by seed treatments was not accompanied by reductions in growth, and may therefore be suitable for commercial exploitation.
• 防御激发是植物在受到胁迫时采用的一种策略，通过最小化生长相关成本来增强对未来胁迫事件的抗性。在这里，我们检验了这样一个假设，即向种子施加激发剂可以使植物产生具有激发防御能力的种子。 • 我们测量了用茉莉酸（JA）和/或β-氨基丁酸（BABA）处理的种子生长的番茄（Solanum lycopersicum）植株对节肢动物食草动物和疾病的抗性。 • 用 JA 处理过的种子生长的植株对叶螨、毛毛虫和蚜虫的取食有更高的抗性，对坏死性真菌病原体 Botrytis cinerea 也有更高的抗性。BABA 种子处理对由生物性真菌病原体 Oidium neolycopersici 引起的白粉病提供了激发防御。激发反应是持久的，用处理过的种子生长的植株至少 8 周内保持着显著的抗性增加，并且与病原体攻击期间增强的防御基因表达有关。用 JA 和 BABA 组合处理的种子生长的植株中，不同形式的防御之间没有明显的拮抗作用。 • 种子处理的长期防御激发不会伴随着生长的减少，因此可能适合商业开发。
