Trygve Krekling

Wound-induced traumatic resin duct development in stems of Norway spruce (Pinaceae): anatomy and cytochemical traits

Wounding of Norway spruce by inoculation with sterile agar, or agar containing the pathogenic fungus Ceratocystis polonica, induced traumatic resin duct formation in the stem. Visible anatomical responses occurred in the cambium 6-9 d post-inoculation. Near the inoculation site cellular proliferation, polyphenolic accumulation, and lignification were induced as a wound reaction to seal the damaged area. Five centimetres from the inoculation site cells in the cambial zone swelled and divided to form clusters. By 18 d post-inoculation, these cells began to differentiate into resin duct epithelial cells surrounding incipient schizogenous lumens. Mature axial traumatic ducts appeared by 36 d as a row of ducts in the xylem centripetal to the cambium. The ducts formed an interconnected network continuous with radial resin ducts. Parenchyma cells surrounding the ducts accumulated polyphenols that disappeared as the cells differentiated into tracheids. These polyphenols appeared to contain fewer sugar residues compared to those accumulating in the secondary phloem, as indicated by the periodic acid-Schiffs staining. The epithelial cells did not accumulate polyphenols but contained immunologically detectable phenylalanine ammonia lyase (EC 4.3.1.5), indicating synthesis of phenolics as a possible resin component. These findings may represent a defense mechanism in Norway spruce against the pathogenic fungus Ceratocystis polonica.

Application of methyl jasmonate on Picea abies (Pinaceae) stems induces defense-related responses in phloem and xylem

Application of 100 mmol/L methyl jasmonate (MJ) to the intact bark of 30-yr-old Norway spruce induced anatomical reactions related to defense. Within 30 d, a single MJ treatment induced swelling of existing polyphenolic parenchyma cells (PP cells) and an increase in their phenolic contents and formation of additional PP cells and of traumatic resin ducts (TDs) at the cambial zone. These changes occurred up to 7 cm away from the application zone. Treatment enhanced resin flow and increased resistance to the blue-stain fungus, Ceratocystis polonica. Methyl jasmonate application to the oldest internode of 2-yr-old saplings also induced TD formation, and, more surprisingly, TDs were formed in the untreated internode. Traumatic ducts were not formed in branches, ruling out an effect of volatile MJ on the upper internode. Methyl jasmonate application never gave rise to a hypersensitive response, cell death, tissue necrosis, or wound periderm, indicating the amount of MJ transported across the periderm was very low relative to the application concentration. This is the first report of a single compound giving rise to major cellular features related to acquired resistance and previously shown to be induced by wounding, fungal infection, and bark beetles in Norway spruce.

Phloem parenchyma cells are involved in local and distant defense responses to fungal inoculation or bark-beetle attack in Norway spruce (Pinaceae).

The anatomical response of Norway spruce bark polyphenolic parenchyma cells (PP cells) to inoculation with the phytopathogenic fungus Ceratocystis polonica and attack by its bark-beetle vector Ips typographus was examined. Fungal inoculation on the periderm surface had no effect, while inoculation just below the periderm or halfway into the phloem (mid-phloem) generated detectable responses within 3 wk. The responses included increase in PP cell size and in periodic acid-Schiffs staining of PP cell phenolics, wound periderm initiation from PP cells, and cambial zone traumatic resin duct formation. Fungi were not seen in samples 3 wk after subperiderm or mid-phloem inoculation, but were found in some samples 6 and 9 wk after mid-phloem inoculation. In contrast, inoculations into the cambium resulted in partial (3 wk) or complete (6 and 9 wk) fungal colonization and death of tissue in the infected area. This indicates that PP cells have defenses capable of inhibiting fungal growth. Samples taken near bark-beetle galleries had similar anatomical responses as inoculated samples, validating the inoculation approach to studying defense responses in spruce. These results show that PP cells represent not only a constitutive defense system, but are also involved in local and remote inducible defenses against fungal and beetle attack.

Specialized phloem parenchyma cells in Norway spruce (Pinaceae) bark are an important site of defense reactions.

The bark anatomy of Norway spruce clones that were resistant or susceptible to Ceratocystis polonica, a bark-beetle-vectored fungal pathogen, was compared. The major difference concerned the axial parenchyma cells, called polyphenolic parenchyma (PP cells) because of their vacuolar deposits. The phenolic nature of the deposits was indicated by autofluorescence under blue light, and immunocytochemical studies demonstrating PP cells are enriched in phenylalanine ammonia lyase (EC 4.3.1.5), a key enzyme in phenolic synthesis. Susceptible-clone PP cells occurred as single rows filled with dense deposits. The resistant clone had 40% more PP cells, which occurred in rows two cells thick plus as individual cells scattered among the sieve cells and had lighter deposits. Trees inoculated with fungus were analyzed but a distinct fungal response could not be separated from the general wound response. In the resistant clone, phenolic bodies were reduced in size and density or disappeared completely 12 d after wounding, and PP cell size increased. The susceptible-clone phenolics and cell size changed only slightly. These data show that PP cells are active in synthesis, storage, and modification of phenolics in response to wounding, providing an important site of constitutive and inducible defenses.

A Bifunctional Geranyl and Geranylgeranyl Diphosphate Synthase Is Involved in Terpene Oleoresin Formation in Picea abies

The conifer Picea abies (Norway spruce) defends itself against herbivores and pathogens with a terpenoid-based oleoresin composed chiefly of monoterpenes (C10) and diterpenes (C20). An important group of enzymes in oleoresin biosynthesis are the short-chain isoprenyl diphosphate synthases that produce geranyl diphosphate (C10), farnesyl diphosphate (C15), and geranylgeranyl diphosphate (C20) as precursors of different terpenoid classes. We isolated a gene from P. abies via a homology-based polymerase chain reaction approach that encodes a short-chain isoprenyl diphosphate synthase making an unusual mixture of two products, geranyl diphosphate (C10) and geranylgeranyl diphosphate (C20). This bifunctionality was confirmed by expression in both prokaryotic (Escherichia coli) and eukaryotic (P. abies embryogenic tissue) hosts. Thus, this isoprenyl diphosphate synthase, designated PaIDS1, could contribute to the biosynthesis of both major terpene types in P. abies oleoresin. In saplings, PaIDS1 transcript was restricted to wood and bark, and transcript level increased dramatically after methyl jasmonate treatment, which induces the formation of new (traumatic) resin ducts. Polyclonal antibodies localized the PaIDS1 protein to the epithelial cells surrounding the traumatic resin ducts. PaIDS1 has a close phylogenetic relationship to single-product conifer geranyl diphosphate and geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthases. Its catalytic properties and reaction mechanism resemble those of conifer geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthases, except that significant quantities of the intermediate geranyl diphosphate are released. Using site-directed mutagenesis and chimeras of PaIDS1 with single-product geranyl diphosphate and geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthases, specific amino acid residues were identified that alter the relative composition of geranyl to geranylgeranyl diphosphate.

Cellular senescence in honey bee brain is largely independent of chronological age

Accumulation of oxidative stress-induced damage in brain tissue plays an important role in the pathogenesis of normal aging and neurodegenerative diseases. Neuronal oxidative damage typically increases with age in humans, and also in the invertebrate and vertebrate model species most commonly used in aging research. By use of quantitative immunohistochemistry and Western blot, we show that this aspect of brain senescence is largely decoupled from chronological age in the honey bee (Apis mellifera). The bee is a eusocial insect characterized by the presence of a reproductive queen caste and a caste of functionally sterile female workers that performs various alloparental tasks such as nursing and foraging. We studied patterns of oxidative nitration and carbonylation damage in the brain of worker bees that performed nurse tasks as 8- and 200-day-olds and foraging tasks as 20- and 200-day-olds. In addition, we examined 180-day-old diutinus bees, a stress-resistant temporal worker form that survives unfavorable periods. Our results indicate that nitration damage occurs only at low levels in vivo, but that a 60-kDa protein from honey bee brain is selectively nitrated by peroxynitrite in vitro. Oxidative carbonylation is present at varying levels in the visual and chemosensory neuropiles of worker bees, and this inter-individual variation is better explained by social role than by chronological age.

The structure and development of polyphenolic parenchyma cells in Norway spruce (Picea abies) bark.

Summary A developmental and structural characterization of polyphenolic parenchyma cells (PP cells) in Norway spruce bark was undertaken as part of our studies on their role in defense against bark beetles and pathogenic fungi. PP cells form multiple circumferentiallayers of cells within the secondary phloem. A layer of PP cells begins differentiation at the start of each growth season, delineating annual growth increments in the secondary phloem. The PP cells grow in size over a number of years, and remain viable even in the oldest phloem layers of trees 100 years old. While most spruce clones examined had PP cell layers that are one cell thick, in one clone the PP cell layer is 2 cells thick with additional PP cells scattered throughout the intervening blocks of sieve cells. The additional cells develop from undifferentiated axial parenchyma cells during the first 5–8 years after formation of the PP cell layer. Division of PP cells in phloem layers older than 8 years give rise to additional PP cells. This accommodates the expansion of the stem circumference while maintaining the intactness of this defense barrier. The importance of phenolic accumulation is also indicated by examination of early stem development. PP cells are produced during the earliest stages of interfascicular cambium formation, and well organized layers are produced by the second year of growth. PP cells in all layers of 25 year old tree bark contained starch, lipids and polyphenolics, which changed in amount or character in a seasonal pattern. Plasmodesmata are abundant between adjacent PP cells and PP cells and ray parenchyma, where they are probably important to nutrient and defense signal transport in the radial and axial directions. The formation of a new PP cell layer each season, the maintenance of the cells for many years, the early organization of this layer in the primary stem, and the dynamic physiological activity even older cells exhibit, supports previous work suggesting that PP cells are an important protective tissue in the secondary phloem.

Traumatic Resin Ducts and Polyphenolic Parenchyma Cells in Conifers

Conifers integrate multiple constitutive and inducible defenses into a coordinated, multitiered defense strategy. Constitutive defenses, established before an attack, represent a fixed cost and function as an insurance against inevitable attacks. Inducible defenses, mobilized in response to an attack, represent a variable resistance that is turned on when it is needed. Polyphenolic parenchyma cells (PP cells) that are specialized for synthesis and storage of phenolic compounds are abundant in the phloem of all conifers. In addition to being a prominent constitutive defense component, PP cells are also involved in a range of inducible defense responses, including activation of existing PP cells, production of new PP cells, and wound periderm formation. Their abundance and varied defensive roles make the PP cells the single most important cell type in conifer defense. Another important defense are traumatic resin ducts which are induced in many conifers after various biotic or abiotic challenges. Traumatic resin ducts are primarily formed in the xylem where they appear in tangential rows, but inducible resin ducts are also formed in the phloem of some conifers. Activation of PP cells and formation of traumatic resin ducts take place through the octadecanoid pathway, involving jasmonate and ethylene signaling.