ABSTRACT

Decades of research have revealed notable similarities between the immune systems of the plant and animal kingdoms. Liquiritin has long been used to stimulate the body immunity in animals against an array of diseases. Considering the homology of some induced immune responses between animals and plants, we examined the effects of exogenously applied liquiritin to stimulate defense responses in Chinese flowering cabbage plants against cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) infection under greenhouse and field conditions. Foliar application of liquiritin (200 ppm) effectively suppressed the development of CMV symptoms by not less than 40% compared with the control in cabbage plants in both greenhouse and field trials along with the significant increases in the marketable yield and nutritional quality of cabbage. Liquiritin application enhanced the production of phenolic compounds and different defense-related enzymes in treated plants. Moreover, quantitative real-time PCR analysis revealed that liquiritin significantly up-regulated the expression of different defense-related genes upon pathogen inoculation, indicating an induction of the salicylic acid-mediated defense system. Collectively, the findings of this study indicate that liquiritin can effectively control CMV in cabbage plants.

摘要

数十年的研究表明，植物界和动物界的免疫系统之间存在显着的相似性。长期以来，甘草苷一直被用于刺激动物的身体对一系列疾病的免疫力。考虑到动物和植物之间某些诱导免疫反应的同源性，我们研究了外源施用甘草苷在温室和大田条件下刺激大白菜植物对抗黄瓜花叶病毒 (CMV) 感染的防御反应的效果。在温室和田间试验中，与对照相比，甘草苷（200 ppm）叶面喷施有效抑制了CMV症状的发展不少于40%，同时显着提高了甘蓝的可销售产量和营养品质。甘草苷的应用增强了处理过的植物中酚类化合物和不同防御相关酶的产生。此外，定量实时 PCR 分析显示甘草苷在病原体接种后显着上调不同防御相关基因的表达，表明水杨酸介导的防御系统的诱导。总的来说，这项研究的结果表明甘草苷可以有效控制甘蓝植物中的 CMV。