Thomas Gaspar

Plant hormones and plant growth regulators in plant tissue culture

SummaryThis is a short review of the classical and new, natural and synthetic plant hormones and growth regulators (phytohormones) and highlights some of their uses in plant tissue culture. Plant hormones rarely act alone, and for most processes— at least those that are observed at the organ level—many of these regulators have interacted in order to produce the final effect. The following substances are discussed: (a) Classical plant hormones (auxins, cytokinins, gibberellins, abscisic acid, ethylene and growth regulatory substances with similar biological effects. New, naturally occurring substances in these categories are still being discovered. At the same time, novel structurally related compounds are constantly being synthesized. There are also many new but chemically unrelated compounds with similar hormone-like activity being produced. A better knowledge of the uptake, transport, metabolism, and mode of action of phytohormones and the appearance of chemicals that inhibit synthesis, transport, and action of the native plant hormones has increased our knowledge of the role of these hormones in growth and development. (b) More recently discovered natural growth substances that have phytohormonal-like regulatory roles (polyamines, oligosaccharins, salicylates, jasmonates, sterols, brassinosteroids, dehydrodiconiferyl alcohol glucosides, turgorins, systemin, unrelated natural stimulators and inhibitors), as well as myoinositol. Many of these growth active substances have not yet been examined in relation to growth and organized developmentin vitro.

Concepts in plant stress physiology. Application to plant tissue cultures

Because the term stress is used, most often subjectively, with variousmeanings, this paper first attempts to clarify the physiological definition,andthe appropriate terms as responses in different situations. The flexibility ofnormal metabolism allows the development of responses to environmental changeswhich fluctuate regularly and predictably over daily and seasonal cycles. Thusevery deviation of a factor from its optimum does not necessarily result instress. Stress begins with a constraint or with highly unpredictablefluctuations imposed on regular metabolic patterns that cause bodily injury,disease, or aberrant physiology. Stress is the altered physiological conditioncaused by factors that tend to alter an equilibrium. Strain is any physicaland/or chemical change produced by a stress, i.e. every established condition,which forces a system away from its thermodynamic optimal state. The papersecondly summarises the Strassers state-change concept which is preciselythat suboptimality is the driving force for acclimation (genotype level) oradaptation (population level) to stress. The paper continues with the actualknowledge on the mechanisms of stress recognition and cell signalling. Briefly:plasma membranes are the sensors of environmental changes; phytohormones andsecond messengers are the transducers of information from membranes tometabolism; carbon balance is the master integrator of plant response; betwixtand between, some genes are expressed more strongly, whereas others arerepressed. Reactive oxygen species play key roles in up- and down-regulation ofmetabolism and structure. The paper shows finally that the above concepts canbeapplied to plant tissue cultures where the accumulating physiological andgenetical deviations (from a normal plant behaviour) are related to thestressing conditions of the in vitro culture media and ofthe confined environment. The hyperhydrated state of shoots and the cancerousstate of cells, both induced under conditions of stress in invitro cultures, are identified and detailed, because they perfectlyillustrate the stress-induced state-change concept. It is concluded that stressresponses include either pathologies or adaptive advantages. Stress may thuscontain both destructive and constructive elements : it is a selection factoraswell as a driving force for improved resistance and adaptive evolution.

Hyperhydricity of Micropropagated Shoots: A Typically Stress-induced Change of Physiological State

Hyperhydricity of micropropagated shoots, formerly called vitrification, undoubtedly results from growth and culture conditions, subjectively reputated as stressing factors: wounding, infiltration of soft culture medium, generally of a high ionic strength, rich in nitrogen and in growth regulators in a special balance, in a humid and gaseous confined atmosphere. Stress is (objectively) defined as a disruption of homeostasis resulting from a constraint escaping the usual flexibility of metabolism. It induces another temporary (reversible) or definitive (irreversible) thermodynamic physiological state. The state-change concept developed by Strasser (1988) and Strasser and Tsimilli-Michael (2001) is applicable to the phenomenon of hyperhydricity. An appraisal of the redox capacities of hyperhydrated shoots together with a study of some enzymic activities that catalyse pentose phosphate and glycolytic pathways has indeed shown that such shoots have evolved towards a temporary state of lower differentiation or a juvenile state with a sufficient activity to survive and to defend themselves.

In vitro promotion of root formation by apple shoots through darkness effect on endogenous phenols and peroxidases.

Summary Shoots raised in vitro from apple Jonagold meristem tips were rooted on IBA (rooting initiative phase) after elongation in the presence of GA3 (rooting inductive phase). Continuous darkness used instead of a 16-8 h day-night cycle during both phases favored increase and decrease of peroxidase activity, successively, and induced higher percentages of rooted plantlets. The dark-induced changes in endogenous phenolic levels varied inversely with the changes in peroxidase activity.

Effect of NaCl and mannitol iso-osmotic stresses on proline and free polyamine levels in embryogenic Fraxinus angustifolia callus.

With the aim to differentiate the ionic and osmotic components of salt stress, short and long-term changes in free polyamines and proline induced by iso-osmotic concentrations of NaCl (0.1 mol/L and 0.2 mol/L) and mannitol (0.2 mol/L and 0.4 mol/L) were determined in Fraxinus angustifolia callus. The peculiarities of the short-term responses were: i) a very early (30 min) and temporary increase in Putrescine (Pu) and Spermine (Spm) as a consequence of salt treatment, and ii) a continuous accumulation of Spermidine (Spd) and Spm in response to mannitol. The changes of Proline (Pro) were quite limited both in the short and in the long term, and generally occurred later than Polyamine (PAs) changes took place, suggesting a regulatory mechanism of PAs metabolism on Pro biosynthesis. In the long-term, no drastic accumulations of Pro or PAs in response to NaCl and mannitol were observed, suggesting that their physiological role is unlikely to be that of osmo-compatible solutes in this plant system. The salt induced a higher callus growth inhibition effect than did mannitol and this inhibition was associated with the reduction of endogenous levels of PAs, especially Pu. However, while a diverging time course was observed under lethal salt concentration (0.2 mol/L NaCl), a high parallelism in the endogenous changes of Pro and Pu was observed under all non-lethal conditions (control--0.2 and 0.4 mol/L mannitol--0.1 mol/L NaCl). Therefore the synchronous changes of Pro and Pu can be considered as a physiological trait associated with cell survival. These results indicate a strong metabolic co-ordination between PAs and Pro pathways and suggest that the metabolic fluxes through these pathways start competing only when the stress level is high enough to be lethal for cells.

Acetyl- and methyl-esterification of pectins of friable and compact sugar-beet calli: consequences for intercellular adhesion

Monoclonal antibodies (2F4), specific for a conformational epitope of homopolygalacturonic acid induced by calcium ions, were used to compare the nature and the distribution of the pectic polysaccharides in cell walls of compact and friable sugar-beet (Beta vulgaris L. var. altissima) calli, at the electron-microscope level. Labelings performed before or after de-esterification pretreatments of callus sections enabled three major types of pectic polysaccharides to be distinguished within compact calli: (i) acidic pectins, probably with few acetyl ester groups, detected without any de-esterification treatment in expanded areas of cell separation but never on middle lamellae between tightly associated cells; (ii) highly methyl-esterified pectins with an expected low acetyl ester content, recognized by the 2F4 antibodies after pectin methylesterase de-esterification, and mostly located on intercellular junctions and on middle lamellae in the central zones of the calli; (iii) highly methyl-esterified and largely acetylated pectins, only localized after alkaline de-esterification, in all primary walls of the compact calli. By contrast, all pectins of friable calli were highly methyland acetyl-esterified. This was consistent with an average degree of methyl-esterification of about 60% measured in both calli, and a higher average degree of acetylation for the friable callus line (85%) compared to the compact one (60%). Accordingly, the pectic fraction (acid-soluble) predominant in both calli was acetyl-esterified to 85% in friable callus and to 22% in compact callus cell walls. Friability of sugar-beet callus is thus correlated with an increase in acetylation of its pectin. Labelings of the Golgi apparatus indicate that the pectic polymers of both callus types are synthesized in dictyosomes in a highly methyl-esterified form and are probably subsequently acetyl-esterified.

Peroxidase as a Marker for Rooting Improvement of Cynara scolymus L. Cultured in vitro

Summary Among different substances tested on root formation by globe artichoke plantlets obtained through in vitro vegetative multiplication, the mixture NAA-D 2 appeared the most effective when maintained throughout the assay. The highest root formation capacity of this mixture corresponded to the highest increase of peroxidase activity during the induction phase. Root formation was hastened and enhanced by transfer of the plantlets to a medium without regulators or suppled with rutin, after completion of induction phase as indicated by the peak of maximum peroxidase activity. These transfers induced as sharper decrease of enzyme activity during the initiation phase. Continuous light favored root formation when applied during induction phase but inhibited if maintained later on. Darkness or 16 h photoperiod gave better results during the initiation phase, which once again corresponded to a sharper decline of peroxidase activity. Enhancing increase of peroxidase activity at induction phase and hastening deeline at initiation phase are proposed as a mean to sereening chemical and physical factors as to their root forming ability.

Involvement of indole-3-acetic acid in the circadian growth of the first internode of Arabidopsis

Abstract. The extension rate of the first inflorescence node of Arabidopsis was measured during light/dark or continuous light exposure and was found to exhibit oscillations which showed a circadian rhythmicity. Decapitation induced a strong inhibition of stem extension. Subsequent application of IAA restored growth and the associated extension–rate oscillations. In addition, IAA treatments, after decapitation, re-established the circadian rhythmicity visible in the intact plants during free run. This indicates that the upper zone of the inflorescence has a major influence on the extension rate of floral stems and implies a role for auxin. Application of N-(1-naphthyl)phthalamic acid, an IAA transport inhibitor, to an intact floral stem inhibited growth and the rhythmicity in the extension rate oscillations, indicating that IAA polar transport may play a role in the dynamics of stem elongation. Furthermore, IAA-aspartate application, after decapitation, did not restore growth and rhythmicity. Nevertheless, biochemical analysis of IAA and IAA-aspartate demonstrated circadian fluctuations of the endogenous levels of both compounds. These observations suggest that IAA metabolism is an essential factor in the regulation of the circadian growth rhythm of Arabidopsis floral stems.

Indissociable Chief Factors in the Inductive Phase of Adventitious Rooting

It happened that the first discovered and identified phytohormone, indolyl-3-acetic acid (IAA), was early shown to promote or favour adventitious rooting (Thimann and Went, 1934). Later identified natural auxins and synthetic compounds of this category had the same effects (Jackson, 1986). With the years, the rooting property of auxins appeared to be specific to this class of growth regulators since no such clear-cut effect could be apparently obtained by exogenous application of other known phytohormones. Some of them, such as cytokinins and gibberellins, for instance, were even classified as rooting inhibitors (Jackson, 1986; Davis et al, 1988; Davis and Haissig, 1994), although there were papers indicating the necessity of cytokinins for rooting (Letham, 1978) and others showing rooting effects of gibberellins under certain circumstances (Gaspar et al., 1977). On the basis of the effects of exogenous application of auxins, a series of wrong concepts as to their roles had arisen: that auxin is the major triggering agent in rooting, that the application of exogenous auxin is needed to augment the endogenous bulk of auxin, that rooting necessitates the maintenance of a “high” amount of endogenous auxin for a certain (unprecise) time, etc. Because there are inductive/adaptative enzymes to regulate the exo-genously fed hormones (this is well known for auxins and cytokinins) and because application of a hormone may induce modifications in the metabolism of other hormones, such simplistic conclusions may not be drawn. Another associated error was to consider rooting as a single developmental process.

Confirmation of the role of auxin and calcium in the late phases of adventitious root formation

Poplar shoots raised in vitro were induced to root by incubation on an auxin (NAA) containing medium for 7 h. After 13 days on an auxin-free medium, 97% of the treated shoots had rooted. The introduction of known antiauxins (PCIB, PBA, POAA) into the rooting expression auxin-free medium, after the 7-h induction by NAA, completely (PCIB and PBA) or severely (POAA) inhibited rooting. The exclusion of calcium from the expression auxin free medium reduced the percentage of rooting by about 42%. The inhibition was still higher in the presence of EGTA, a calcium chelator. Lanthanum chloride, a calcium channel blocker, also completely inhibited rooting, when incorporated into the auxin free medium, with or without calcium. These results support previous hypotheses about the implication of both endogenous auxin and calcium in the late phases of the adventitious rooting process.