Two Different Wound Signals Evoke Very Rapid, Systemic CMBP Transcript Accumulation in Tomato

Area of Science:

• Plant electrophysiology
• Plant signaling pathways
• Molecular plant biology

Background:

• Plant wounding elicits electrical signals and systemic responses.
• The role of specific electrical signals in gene expression remains partially understood.
• Previous studies indicated cut-wounds did not affect pin transcript accumulation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the electrical signals generated by flaming and leaf excision in tomato plants.
• To determine the effect of these electrical signals on CMBP transcript accumulation.
• To elucidate the signaling mechanisms underlying systemic wound responses.

Main Methods:

• Inducing electrical variation potentials and action potentials in tomato leaves via flaming and excision.
• Quantifying CMBP (Chitinase- and Mannan-binding Protein) transcript accumulation.
• Analyzing the kinetics and systemic nature of transcript accumulation in response to different stimuli.

Main Results:

• Flaming a leaf evoked a variation potential and rapid, biphasic CMBP transcript accumulation.
• Excising an unwounded leaf generated an action potential and slower, monophasic transcript accumulation.
• Excising a wounded leaf 90 seconds post-flaming evoked a superimposed potential but no additional CMBP transcript accumulation, indicating non-additive effects.

Conclusions:

• Both flame-evoked variation potentials and cut-wound evoked action potentials can induce CMBP transcript accumulation.
• These electrical signals exhibit different kinetics in transcript accumulation.
• The non-additive effects suggest shared signaling components in the systemic response to wounding.