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Originally published in Science Express on 18 December 2008
Science 2 January 2009:
Vol. 323. no. 5910, pp. 95 - 101
DOI: 10.1126/science.1164627
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Research Articles

Glucosinolate Metabolites Required for an Arabidopsis Innate Immune Response

Nicole K. Clay,1,2,3 Adewale M. Adio,4 Carine Denoux,1,2,3 Georg Jander,4 Frederick M. Ausubel1,2,3*

The perception of pathogen or microbe-associated molecular pattern molecules by plants triggers a basal defense response analogous to animal innate immunity and is defined partly by the deposition of the glucan polymer callose at the cell wall at the site of pathogen contact. Transcriptional and metabolic profiling in Arabidopsis mutants, coupled with the monitoring of pathogen-triggered callose deposition, have identified major roles in pathogen response for the plant hormone ethylene and the secondary metabolite 4-methoxy-indol-3-ylmethylglucosinolate. Two genes, PEN2 and PEN3, are also necessary for resistance to pathogens and are required for both callose deposition and glucosinolate activation, suggesting that the pathogen-triggered callose response is required for resistance to microbial pathogens. Our study shows that well-studied plant metabolites, previously identified as important in avoiding damage by herbivores, are also required as a component of the plant defense response against microbial pathogens.

1 Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
2 Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
3 Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
4 Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: ausubel{at}molbio.mgh.harvard.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Innate Immunity in Plants: An Arms Race Between Pattern Recognition Receptors in Plants and Effectors in Microbial Pathogens.
T. Boller and S. Y. He (2009)
Science 324, 742-744
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Plant-Microbe Interactions: Chemical Diversity in Plant Defense.
P. Bednarek and A. Osbourn (2009)
Science 324, 746-748
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Hormone (Dis)harmony Moulds Plant Health and Disease.
M. R. Grant and J. D. G. Jones (2009)
Science 324, 750-752
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The Gene Controlling the Indole Glucosinolate Modifier1 Quantitative Trait Locus Alters Indole Glucosinolate Structures and Aphid Resistance in Arabidopsis.
M. Pfalz, H. Vogel, and J. Kroymann (2009)
PLANT CELL 21, 985-999
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Disruption of Adenosine-5'-Phosphosulfate Kinase in Arabidopsis Reduces Levels of Sulfated Secondary Metabolites.
S. G. Mugford, N. Yoshimoto, M. Reichelt, M. Wirtz, L. Hill, S. T. Mugford, Y. Nakazato, M. Noji, H. Takahashi, R. Kramell, et al. (2009)
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