Cell wall composition profiling of parasitic giant dodder (Cuscuta reflexa) and its hosts: a priori differences and induced changes

• Published in: The New phytologist Vol. 207; no. 3; pp. 805 - 816
• Main Authors: Johnsen, Hanne R., Striberny, Bernd, Olsen, Stian, Vidal‐Melgosa, Silvia, Fangel, Jonatan U., Willats, William G. T., Rose, Jocelyn K. C., Krause, Kirsten
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England New Phytologist Trust 01.08.2015; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc; Wiley-Blackwell
• Subjects: Animals; Antibodies; Cell Wall - metabolism; cell wall composition; Cell walls; Composition; comprehensive microarray polymer profiling (CoMPP); Cuscuta; Cuscuta - cytology; Cuscuta - metabolism; Cuscuta reflexa; Degradation; Disease Resistance; Epitopes; Epitopes - metabolism; Esterification; Genes; Glucans - metabolism; Haustoria; Host plants; Host-Parasite Interactions; Hosts; Introgression; Lycopersicon esculentum - cytology; Lycopersicon esculentum - parasitology; Mannan; Metabolomics; Microarray Analysis; microarray‐based enzyme screening; Parasites; Parasites - physiology; Parasitic plants; Pectate lyase; Pectins - metabolism; Pelargonium - cytology; Pelargonium - parasitology; Pelargonium zonale; Plant Diseases - parasitology; Plant Stems - physiology; Plants, Genetically Modified; Polysaccharide-Lyases - metabolism; Polysaccharides - metabolism; Profiling; Solanum lycopersicum; Survival; Tomatoes; Xylan; Xylans - metabolism; comprehensive microarray polymer profiling (CoMPP); microarray-based enzyme screening; Cuscuta; parasitic plants; haustoria; cell wall composition
• ISSN: 0028-646X; 1469-8137
• DOI: 10.1111/nph.13378

Host plant penetration is the gateway to survival for holoparasitic Cuscuta and requires host cell wall degradation. Compositional differences of cell walls may explain why some hosts are amenable to such degradation while others can resist infection. Antibody-based techniques for comprehensive profiling of cell wall epitopes and cell wall-modifying enzymes were applied to several susceptible hosts and a resistant host of Cuscuta reflexa and to the parasite itself. Infected tissue of Pelargonium zonale contained high concentrations of de-esterified homogalacturonans in the cell walls, particularly adjacent to the parasite's haustoria. High pectinolytic activity in haustorial extracts and high expression levels of pectate lyase genes suggest that the parasite contributes directly to wall remodeling. Mannan and xylan concentrations were low in P. zonale and in five susceptible tomato introgression lines, but high in the resistant Solanum lycopersicum cv M82, and in C. reflexa itself. Knowledge of the composition of resistant host cell walls and the parasite's own cell walls is useful in developing strategies to prevent infection by parasitic plants.