Acid primes plants' defense system
Infections cause an increase in
aselaic acid, which primes the
plant's immune system.
By identifying a novel compound that primes a plant's immune system, researchers at DOE's
Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the
University of Chicago may be on a path to developing disease-resistant plants. In a paper published in Science, ORNL reports that azelaic acid has a role in priming the immunity response in Arabidopsis, a small flowering plant widely used as a model organism for studying higher plants. Researchers noticed a persistent mass spectral signature that occurred soon after Arabidopsis plants were exposed to a bacterial pathogen. Azelaic acid moves throughout the stem and leaves and bolsters the plant's immune system so it can respond quicker and more effectively to diseases compared to naïve plants, according to the researchers. Through this process, plants accumulate very high levels of the defense signal salicylic acid, and this helps inhibit the progression of secondary infections.
[Ron Walli, 865.576.0226,
wallira@ornl.gov]
