Tracing Plant Defense Responses in Roots upon MAMP/DAMP Treatment

This chapter describes how to apply microbe-associated molecular pattern (MAMP) or damage-associated molecular pattern (DAMP) solutions to Arabidopsis roots to trace defense responses in the root. Plants sense the presence of microbes via the perception of MAMPs or DAMPs by surface-localized pattern recognition receptors. The mechanisms governing plant root immunity are poorly characterized compared with those underlying plant immunity in the leaf, despite the fact that plant roots constantly interact with countless microbes living in soils that carry potential MAMPs and could stimulate the production of plant-derived DAMPs during colonization. To understand how a plant root immune system detects and reacts to the potential sources of a stimulus, we describe a simple method to monitor activation of root immunity upon MAMP/DAMP treatment by measuring relative expression of defense-related genes by RT-qPCR.