39 Plantresponses Text

Chapter 39
Plant Responses to Internal

and External Signals
PowerPoint Lectures for

Biology, Seventh Edition
Neil Campbell and Jane Reece
Lectures by Chris Romero

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings
• Overview: Stimuli and a Stationary Life
• Plants, being rooted to the ground

– Must respond to whatever environmental
change comes their way

• For example, the bending of a grass seedling
toward light
– Begins with the plant sensing the direction,
quantity, and color of the light
Figure 39.1
• Concept 39.1: Signal transduction pathways
link signal reception to response
• Plants have cellular receptors
– That they use to detect important changes in
their environment
• For a stimulus to elicit a response

– Certain cells must have an appropriate
receptor

• A potato left growing in darkness
– Will produce shoots that do not appear
healthy, and will lack elongated roots
• These are morphological adaptations for

growing in darkness
– Collectively referred to as etiolation
(a) Before exposure to light. A
dark-grown potato has tall,
spindly stems and nonexpanded
leaves—morphological
adaptations that enable the
shoots to penetrate the soil. The
roots are short, but there is little
need for water absorption
because little water is lost by the
shoots.
Figure 39.2a

• After the potato is exposed to light
– The plant undergoes profound changes called de-
etiolation, in which shoots and roots grow normally
(b) After a week’s exposure to

natural daylight. The potato
plant begins to resemble a
typical plant with broad green
leaves, short sturdy stems, and
long roots. This transformation
begins with the reception of
light by a specific pigment,
phytochrome.
Figure 39.2b

• The potato’s response to light
– Is an example of cell-signal processing
CELL CYTOPLASM
WALL
1 Reception 2 Transduction 3 Response
Activation
of cellular
Relay molecules responses
Receptor
Hormone or
environmental
stimulus
Plasma membrane
Figure 39.3
Reception
• Internal and external signals are detected by
receptors
– Proteins that change in response to specific
stimuli

Transduction
• Second messengers
– Transfer and amplify signals from receptors to
proteins that cause specific responses

• An example of signal transduction in plants
1 Reception 2 Transduction 3 Response
Transcription
CYTOPLASM
factor 1 NUCLEUS
Specific
Plasma cGMP protein P
membrane kinase 1
Second messenger activated
produced Transcription
Phytochrome factor 2
activated
by light 2 One pathway uses cGMP as a
second messenger that activates P
Cell a specific protein kinase.The other
Specific
wall pathway involves an increase in
protein
cytoplasmic Ca2+ that activates
kinase 2
another specific protein kinase.
activated Transcription
Light
Translation
3 Both pathways
1 The light signal is lead to expression De-etiolation
detected by the of genes for proteins (greening)
Ca channel
2+
phytochrome receptor, that function in the response
opened
which then activates de-etiolation proteins
at least two signal (greening) response.
transduction pathways.
Ca2+
Figure 39.4
Response
• Ultimately, a signal transduction pathway
– Leads to a regulation of one or more cellular
activities
• In most cases
– These responses to stimulation involve the
increased activity of certain enzymes

Transcriptional Regulation
• Transcription factors bind directly to specific
regions of DNA
– And control the transcription of specific genes

Post-Translational Modification of Proteins
• Post-translational modification
– Involves the activation of existing proteins
involved in the signal response

De-Etioloation (“Greening”) Proteins
• Many enzymes that function in certain signal
responses are involved in photosynthesis
directly
– While others are involved in supplying the
chemical precursors necessary for chlorophyll
production

• Concept 39.2: Plant hormones help coordinate
growth, development, and responses to stimuli
• Hormones
– Are chemical signals that coordinate the
different parts of an organism

The Discovery of Plant Hormones
• Any growth response
– That results in curvatures of whole plant
organs toward or away from a stimulus is
called a tropism
– Is often caused by hormones

• Charles Darwin and his son Francis
– Conducted some of the earliest experiments
on phototropism, a plant’s response to light, in
the late 19th century

EXPERIMENT In 1880, Charles Darwin and his son Francis designed an experiment to determine
what part of the coleoptile senses light. In 1913, Peter Boysen-Jensen conducted an experiment to
determine how the signal for phototropism is transmitted.
RESULTS
Control Darwin and Darwin (1880) Boysen-Jensen (1913)

Shaded
side of
coleoptile
Light
Light
Light
Illuminated Tip Tip covered Tip Base covered Tip separated Tip separated
side of removed by opaque covered by opaque by gelatin by mica
coleoptile cap by trans- shield block
parent
cap
CONCLUSION In the Darwins’ experiment, a phototropic response occurred only when light could
reach the tip of coleoptile. Therefore, they concluded that only the tip senses light. Boysen-Jensen
observed that a phototropic response occurred if the tip was separated by a permeable barrier (gelatin)
but not if separated by an impermeable solid barrier (a mineral called mica). These results suggested
that the signal is a light-activated mobile chemical.
Figure 39.5

• In 1926, Frits Went EXPERIMENT In 1926, Frits Went’s experiment identified how a growth-promoting
chemical causes a coleoptile to grow toward light. He placed coleoptiles in the dark and
removed their tips, putting some tips on agar blocks that he predicted would absorb the
– Extracted the
chemical. On a control coleoptile, he placed a block that lacked the chemical. On others,
he placed blocks containing the chemical, either centered on top of the coleoptile to
distribute the chemical evenly or offset to increase the concentration on one side.
chemical RESULTS The coleoptile grew straight if the chemical was distributed evenly.
If the chemical was distributed unevenly, the coleoptile curved away from the side with
the block, as if growing toward light, even though it was grown in the dark.
messenger for Excised tip placed

on agar block
phototropism, Growth-promoting
chemical diffuses
into agar block
auxin, by
modifying earlier Control
(agar block
lacking
Agar block
with chemical
stimulates growth
experiments Control
chemical)
has no
effect
Offset blocks
cause curvature
CONCLUSION Went concluded that a coleoptile curved toward light because its dark
Figure 39.6 side had a higher concentration of the growth-promoting chemical, which he named auxin.

A Survey of Plant Hormones

• In general, hormones control plant growth and
development
– By affecting the division, elongation, and
differentiation of cells
• Plant hormones are produced in very low

concentrations
– But a minute amount can have a profound
effect on the growth and development of a
plant organ

Auxin
• The term auxin
– Is used for any chemical substance that
promotes cell elongation in different target
tissues

• Auxin transporters
– Move the hormone out of the basal end of one cell,
and into the apical end of neighboring cells
EXPERIMENT To investigate how auxin is transported unidirectionally, researchers
designed an experiment to identify the location of the auxin transport protein. They used
a greenish-yellow fluorescent molecule to label antibodies that bind to the auxin transport
protein. They applied the antibodies to longitudinally sectioned Arabidopsis stems.
RESULTS The left micrograph shows that the auxin transport protein is not found in
all tissues of the stem, but only in the xylem parenchyma. In the right micrograph, a higher
magnification reveals that the auxin transport protein is primarily localized to the basal end
of the cells.
Cell 1
100 m
Cell 2
Epidermis
Cortex
Phloem
Xylem
Basal end 25 m
Pith of cell
CONCLUSION The results support the hypothesis that concentration of the auxin
Figure 39.7 transport protein at the basal ends of cells is responsible for polar transport of auxin.
The Role of Auxin in Cell Elongation
• According to a model called the acid growth
hypothesis
– Proton pumps play a major role in the growth
response of cells to auxin

• Cell elongation in response to auxin
3 Wedge-shaped expansins, activated
by low pH, separate cellulose microfibrils from
Cell wall cross-linking polysaccharides. The exposed cross-linking
enzymes polysaccharides are now more accessible to cell wall enzymes.
Cross-linking Expansin
cell wall 4 The enzymatic cleaving
polysaccharides of the cross-linking
CELL WALL
polysaccharides allows
the microfibrils to slide.
The extensibility of the
Microfibril cell wall is increased. Turgor
causes the cell to expand.
H2O
Cell
H+ Plasma wall
H+ membrane
2 The cell wall
becomes more H+
acidic. H+
H+ H+ H+
H+
1 Auxin
increases the
Nucleus Cytoplasm
activity of Vacuole
proton pumps. ATP Plasma membrane
H+ 5 With the cellulose loosened,
the cell can elongate.
Cytoplasm
Figure 39.8

Lateral and Adventitious Root Formation
• Auxin
– Is involved in the formation and branching of
roots

Auxins as Herbicides
• An overdose of auxins
– Can kill eudicots

Other Effects of Auxin
• Auxin affects secondary growth
– By inducing cell division in the vascular
cambium and influencing differentiation of
secondary xylem

Cytokinins
• Cytokinins
– Stimulate cell division

Control of Cell Division and Differentiation
• Cytokinins
– Are produced in actively growing tissues such
as roots, embryos, and fruits
– Work together with auxin

Control of Apical Dominance
• Cytokinins, auxin, and other factors interact in
the control of apical dominance
– The ability of a terminal bud to suppress
development of axillary buds
Axillary buds
Figure 39.9a
• If the terminal bud is removed
– Plants become bushier
“Stump” after
removal of
apical bud
Figure 39.9b Lateral branches

Anti-Aging Effects
• Cytokinins retard the aging of some plant
organs
– By inhibiting protein breakdown, stimulating
RNA and protein synthesis, and mobilizing
nutrients from surrounding tissues

Gibberellins
• Gibberellins have a variety of effects
– Such as stem elongation, fruit growth, and
seed germination

Stem Elongation
• Gibberellins stimulate growth of both leaves
and stems
• In stems
– Gibberellins stimulate cell elongation and cell
division

Fruit Growth
• In many plants
– Both auxin and gibberellins must be present
for fruit to set

• Gibberellins are used commercially
– In the spraying of Thompson seedless grapes
Figure 39.10
Germination
• After water is imbibed, the release of gibberellins from
the embryo
– Signals the seeds to break dormancy and germinate
2 The aleurone responds by
1 After a seed synthesizing and secreting
imbibes water, the digestive enzymes that 3 Sugars and other
embryo releases hydrolyze stored nutrients in nutrients absorbed
gibberellin (GA) the endosperm. One example from the endosperm
as a signal to the is -amylase, which hydrolyzes by the scutellum
aleurone, the thin starch. (A similar enzyme in (cotyledon) are consumed
outer layer of the our saliva helps in digesting during growth of the
endosperm. bread and other starchy foods.) embryo into a seedling.
Aleurone
Endosperm
-amylase Sugar
GA
GA
Water
Radicle
Scutellum
(cotyledon)
Figure 39.11
2 The aleurone responds by
1 After a seed synthesizing and secreting
imbibes water, the digestive enzymes that 3 Sugars and other
embryo releases hydrolyze stored nutrients in nutrients absorbed
gibberellin (GA) the endosperm. One example from the endosperm
as a signal to the is -amylase, which hydrolyzes by the scutellum
aleurone, the thin starch. (A similar enzyme in (cotyledon) are consumed
outer layer of the our saliva helps in digesting during growth of the
endosperm. bread and other starchy foods.) embryo into a seedling.
Aleurone
Endosperm
-amylase Sugar
GA
GA
Water
Radicle
Scutellum
(cotyledon)

Brassinosteroids
• Brassinosteroids
– Are similar to the sex hormones of animals
– Induce cell elongation and division

Abscisic Acid
• Two of the many effects of abscisic acid (ABA)
are
– Seed dormancy
– Drought tolerance

Seed Dormancy
• Seed dormancy has great survival value
– Because it ensures that the seed will
germinate only when there are optimal
conditions

• Precocious germination is observed in maize
mutants
– That lack a functional transcription factor
required for ABA to induce expression of
certain genes
Coleoptile
Figure 39.12
Drought Tolerance
• ABA is the primary internal signal
– That enables plants to withstand drought

Ethylene
• Plants produce ethylene
– In response to stresses such as drought,
flooding, mechanical pressure, injury, and
infection

The Triple Response to Mechanical Stress
• Ethylene induces the triple response
– Which allows a growing shoot to avoid
obstacles EXPERIMENT Germinating pea seedlings were placed in the
dark and exposed to varying ethylene concentrations. Their growth
was compared with a control seedling not treated with ethylene.
RESULTS All the treated seedlings exhibited the triple
response. Response was greater with increased concentration.
0.00 0.10 0.20 0.40 0.80
Ethylene concentration (parts per million)
Figure 39.13 CONCLUSION Ethylene induces the triple response in pea seedlings,
with increased ethylene concentration causing increased response.
• Ethylene-insensitive mutants
– Fail to undergo the triple response after
exposure to ethylene ein mutant
Figure 39.14a

• Other types of mutants
– Undergo the triple response in air but do not
respond to inhibitors of ethylene synthesis
ctr mutant
Figure 39.14b

• A summary of ethylene signal transduction
mutants Ethylene
Ethylene
synthesis
Control added inhibitor
Wild-type
Ethylene insensitive
(ein)
Ethylene
overproducing (eto)
Constitutive triple
response (ctr)
Figure 39.15
Apoptosis: Programmed Cell Death
• A burst of ethylene
– Is associated with the programmed destruction
of cells, organs, or whole plants

Leaf Abscission
• A change in the balance of auxin and ethylene
controls leaf abscission
– The process that occurs in autumn when a
leaf falls
0.5 mm
Protective layer Abscission layer
Figure 39.16 Stem Petiole

Fruit Ripening
• A burst of ethylene production in the fruit
– Triggers the ripening process

Systems Biology and Hormone Interactions
• Interactions between hormones and their signal
transduction pathways
– Make it difficult to predict what effect a genetic
manipulation will have on a plant
• Systems biology seeks a comprehensive

understanding of plants
– That will permit successful modeling of plant
functions

• Concept 39.3: Responses to light are critical for
plant success
• Light cues many key events in plant growth
and development
• Effects of light on plant morphology
– Are what plant biologists call
photomorphogenesis

• Plants not only detect the presence of light
– But also its direction, intensity, and wavelength
(color)
• A graph called an action spectrum

– Depicts the relative response of a process to
different wavelengths of light

• Action spectra
– Are useful in the study of any process that depends
on light EXPERIMENT Researchers exposed maize (Zea mays) coleoptiles to violet, blue, green, yellow,
orange, and red light to test which wavelengths stimulate the phototropic bending toward light.
RESULTS The graph below shows phototropic effectiveness (curvature per photon) relative
to effectiveness of light with a wavelength of 436 nm. The photo collages show coleoptiles before
and after 90-minute exposure to side lighting of the indicated colors. Pronounced curvature occurred
only with wavelengths below 500 nm and was greatest with blue light.
Phototropic effectiveness relative to 436 nm

1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
400 450 500 550 600 650 700
Wavelength (nm)
Light
Time = 0 min.
Time = 90 min.
CONCLUSION The phototropic bending toward light is caused by a photoreceptor that is

Figure 39.17 sensitive to blue and violet light, particularly blue light.

• Research on action spectra and absorption
spectra of pigments
– Led to the identification of two major classes of
light receptors: blue-light photoreceptors and
phytochromes

Blue-Light Photoreceptors
• Various blue-light photoreceptors
– Control hypocotyl elongation, stomatal
opening, and phototropism

Phytochromes as Photoreceptors
• Phytochromes
– Regulate many of a plant’s responses to light
throughout its life

Phytochromes and Seed Germination
• Studies of seed germination
– Led to the discovery of phytochromes

• In the 1930s, scientists at the U.S. Department
of Agriculture
– Determined the action spectrum for light-
induced germination of lettuce seeds
Dark (control)
Dark
Dark

EXPERIMENT During the 1930s, USDA scientists briefly exposed batches of lettuce seeds to red
light or far-red light to test the effects on germination. After the light exposure, the seeds were placed in
the dark, and the results were compared with control seeds that were not exposed to light.
RESULTS The bar below each photo indicates the sequence of red-light exposure, far-red light
exposure, and darkness. The germination rate increased greatly in groups of seeds that were last exposed
to red light (left). Germination was inhibited in groups of seeds that were last exposed to far-red light (right).
Dark (control)
Red Dark Red Far-red Dark
Red Far-red Red Dark Red Far-red Red Far-red
CONCLUSION Red light stimulated germination, and far-red light inhibited germination.
Figure 39.18 The final exposure was the determining factor. The effects of red and far-red light were reversible.

• A phytochrome
– Is the photoreceptor responsible for the
opposing effects of red and far-red light
A phytochrome consists of two identical proteins joined to form
one functional molecule. Each of these proteins has two domains.
Chromophore
Photoreceptor activity. One domain,

which functions as the photoreceptor,
is covalently bonded to a nonprotein
pigment, or chromophore.
Kinase activity. The other domain

has protein kinase activity. The
photoreceptor domains interact with the
kinase domains to link light reception to
cellular responses triggered by the
kinase.
Figure 39.19

• Phytochromes exist in two photoreversible
states
– With conversion of Pr to Pfr triggering many
developmental responses
Pr Pfr
Red light
Responses:
Synthesis seed germination,
control of
flowering, etc.
Far-red
light
Slow conversion Enzymatic

in darkness destruction
Figure 39.20 (some plants)

Phytochromes and Shade Avoidance
• The phytochrome system
– Also provides the plant with information about
the quality of light
• In the “shade avoidance” response of a tree

– The phytochrome ratio shifts in favor of Pr
when a tree is shaded

Biological Clocks and Circadian Rhythms
• Many plant processes
– Oscillate during the day

• Many legumes
– Lower their leaves in the evening and raise
them in the morning
Figure 39.21
Noon Midnight

• Cyclical responses to environmental stimuli are
called circadian rhythms
– And are approximately 24 hours long
– Can be entrained to exactly 24 hours by the

day/night cycle

The Effect of Light on the Biological Clock
• Phytochrome conversion marks sunrise and
sunset
– Providing the biological clock with
environmental cues

Photoperiodism and Responses to Seasons
• Photoperiod, the relative lengths of night and
day
– Is the environmental stimulus plants use most
often to detect the time of year
• Photoperiodism
– Is a physiological response to photoperiod

Photoperiodism and Control of Flowering
• Some developmental processes, including
flowering in many species
– Requires a certain photoperiod

Critical Night Length
• In the 1940s, researchers discovered that flowering
and other responses to photoperiod
– Are actually controlled by night length, not day length
EXPERIMENT During the 1940s, researchers conducted experiments in which periods of darkness were
interrupted with brief exposure to light to test how the light and dark portions of a photoperiod affected flowering
in “short-day” and “long-day” plants.
RESULTS
Darkness
Flash of
light
24 hours
Critical
dark
period
Light
(a) “Short-day” plants (b) “Long-day” plants

flowered only if a period of flowered only if a
continuous darkness was period of continuous
longer than a critical dark darkness was shorter
period for that particular than a critical dark
species (13 hours in this period for that
example). A period of particular species (13
darkness can be ended by a hours in this example).
brief exposure to light.
CONCLUSION The experiments indicated that flowering of each species was determined by a critical period of
darkness (“critical night length”) for that species, not by a specific period of light. Therefore, “short-day” plants are
Figure 39.22 more properly called “long-night” plants, and “long-day” plants are really “short-night” plants.

• Action spectra and photoreversibility experiments
– Show that phytochrome is the pigment that receives
red light, which can interrupt the nighttime portion of
the photoperiod EXPERIMENT A unique characteristic of phytochrome is reversibility in response to red and
far-red light. To test whether phytochrome is the pigment measuring interruption of dark periods,
researchers observed how flashes of red light and far-red light affected flowering in “short-day”
and “long-day” plants.
RESULTS
24
Critical dark period

FR
20 R R
FR FR FR
R R R R
16
Hours
12
Short-day (long-night) plant
Long-day (short-night) plant

CONCLUSION A flash of red light shortened the dark period. A subsequent flash of far-red
light canceled the red light’s effect. If a red flash followed a far-red flash, the effect of the far-red
light was canceled. This reversibility indicated that it is phytochrome that measures the interruption
Figure 39.23 of dark periods.

A Flowering Hormone?
• The flowering signal, not yet chemically
identified
– Is called florigen, and it may be a hormone or a
change in relative concentrations of multiple
hormones

EXPERIMENT To test whether there is a flowering hormone, researchers conducted an
experiment in which a plant that had been induced to flower by photoperiod was grafted to
a plant that had not been induced.
RESULTS
Plant subjected to photoperiod Plant subjected to photoperiod
that induces flowering that does not induce flowering
Graft
Time
(several
weeks)
CONCLUSION Both plants flowered, indicating the transmission of a flower-inducing

substance. In some cases, the transmission worked even if one was a short-day plant
Figure 39.24 and the other was a long-day plant.

Meristem Transition and Flowering
• Whatever combination of environmental cues
and internal signals is necessary for flowering
to occur
– The outcome is the transition of a bud’s
meristem from a vegetative to a flowering state

• Concept 39.4: Plants respond to a wide variety
of stimuli other than light
• Because of their immobility
– Plants must adjust to a wide range of
environmental circumstances through
developmental and physiological mechanisms

Gravity
• Response to gravity
– Is known as gravitropism
• Roots show positive gravitropism
• Stems show negative gravitropism

• Plants may detect gravity by the settling of
statoliths
– Specialized plastids containing dense starch
grains
Statoliths
20 m
Figure 39.25a, b (a) (b)

Mechanical Stimuli
• The term thigmomorphogenesis
– Refers to the changes in form that result from
mechanical perturbation

• Rubbing the stems of young plants a couple of
times daily
– Results in plants that are shorter than controls
Figure 39.26
• Growth in response to touch
– Is called thigmotropism
– Occurs in vines and other climbing plants

• Rapid leaf movements in response to
mechanical stimulation
– Are examples of transmission of electrical
impulses called action potentials
(a) Unstimulated (b) Stimulated
Side of pulvinus with

Leaflets flaccid cells
after
Side of pulvinus with
stimulation
turgid cells
Pulvinus
(motor Vein
organ)
Figure 39.27a–c (c) Motor organs 0.5 m

Environmental Stresses
• Environmental stresses
– Have a potentially adverse effect on a plant’s
survival, growth, and reproduction
– Can have a devastating impact on crop yields
in agriculture

Drought
• During drought
– Plants respond to water deficit by reducing
transpiration
– Deeper roots continue to grow

Flooding
• Enzymatic destruction of cells
– Creates air tubes that help plants survive
oxygen deprivation during flooding
Vascular
cylinder
Air tubes
Epidermis
100 m 100 m
Figure 39.28a, b (a) Control root (aerated) (b) Experimental root (nonaerated)

Salt Stress
• Plants respond to salt stress by producing
solutes tolerated at high concentrations
– Keeping the water potential of cells more
negative than that of the soil solution

Heat Stress
• Heat-shock proteins
– Help plants survive heat stress

Cold Stress
• Altering lipid composition of membranes
– Is a response to cold stress

• Concept 39.5: Plants defend themselves
against herbivores and pathogens
• Plants counter external threats
– With defense systems that deter herbivory and
prevent infection or combat pathogens

Defenses Against Herbivores
• Herbivory, animals eating plants
– Is a stress that plants face in any ecosystem
• Plants counter excessive herbivory

– With physical defenses such as thorns
– With chemical defenses such as distasteful or

toxic compounds

• Some plants even “recruit” predatory animals
– That help defend the plant against specific
herbivores 4 Recruitment of
parasitoid wasps
that lay their eggs
within caterpillars
3 Synthesis and
release of
volatile attractants
1 Wounding 1 Chemical
in saliva
2 Signal transduction
pathway
Figure 39.29
Defenses Against Pathogens
• A plant’s first line of defense against infection
– Is the physical barrier of the plant’s “skin,” the
epidermis and the periderm
• Once a pathogen invades a plant

– The plant mounts a chemical attack as a
second line of defense that kills the pathogen
and prevents its spread

• The second defense system
– Is enhanced by the plant’s inherited ability to
recognize certain pathogens

Gene-for-Gene Recognition
• A virulent pathogen
– Is one that a plant has little specific defense
against
• An avirulent pathogen
– Is one that may harm but not kill the host plant

• Gene-for-gene recognition is a widespread
form of plant disease resistance
– That involves recognition of pathogen-derived
molecules by the protein products of specific
plant disease resistance (R) genes

• A pathogen is avirulent
– If it has a specific Avr gene corresponding to a
particular R allele in the host plant
Receptor coded by R allele
Signal molecule (ligand)
from Avr gene product
Avr allele
Avirulent pathogen
Plant cell is resistant
(a) If an Avr allele in the pathogen corresponds to an R allele

in the host plant, the host plant will have resistance,
making the pathogen avirulent. R alleles probably code for
Figure 39.30a receptors in the plasma membranes of host plant cells. Avr alleles
produce compounds that can act as ligands, binding to receptors
in host plant cells.

• If the plant host lacks the R gene that
counteracts the pathogen’s Avr gene
– Then the pathogen can invade and kill the
plant
R
No Avr allele;
virulent pathogen
Plant cell becomes diseased
Avr allele
No R allele;
Virulent pathogen plant cell becomes diseased
Virulent pathogen
No R allele;
plant cell becomes diseased
Figure 39.30b (b) If there is no gene-for-gene recognition because of one of

the above three conditions, the pathogen will be virulent,
causing disease to develop.

Plant Responses to Pathogen Invasions
• A hypersensitive response against an avirulent
pathogen
– Seals off the infection and kills both pathogen
and host cells in the region of the infection
4 Before they die,
infected cells
release a chemical
signal, probably
salicylic acid.
3 In a hypersensitive
response (HR), plant
cells produce anti-
microbial molecules, 5 The signal is
seal off infected 4 Signal 5
distributed to the
areas by modifying rest of the plant.
their walls, and
then destroy Signal 6
themselves. This 3 Hypersensitive
transduction
localized response response 6 In cells remote from
pathway
produces lesions the infection site,
and protects other Signal transduction the chemical
parts of an infected 2 pathway Acquired initiates a signal
leaf. 7 resistance transduction
pathway.
2 This identification
step triggers a
signal transduction 1 7 Systemic acquired
pathway. Avirulent resistance is
1 Specific resistance is pathogen activated: the
based on the production of
binding of ligands molecules that help
from the pathogen protect the cell
to receptors in R-Avr recognition and Systemic acquired against a diversity
Figure 39.31 plant cells. hypersensitive response resistance of pathogens for
several days.

Systemic Acquired Resistance
• Systemic acquired resistance (SAR)
– Is a set of generalized defense responses in
organs distant from the original site of infection
– Is triggered by the signal molecule salicylic
acid

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Chapter 39

Plant Responses to Internal

PowerPoint Lectures for

Lectures by Chris Romero

• Plants, being rooted to the ground

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

• For a stimulus to elicit a response

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

• These are morphological adaptations for

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

(b) After a week’s exposure to

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

1 Reception 2 Transduction 3 Response

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Control Darwin and Darwin (1880) Boysen-Jensen (1913)

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messenger for Excised tip placed

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Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

• Plant hormones are produced in very low

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Figure 39.9b Lateral branches

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Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

– Induce cell elongation and division

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Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

0.00 0.10 0.20 0.40 0.80

Ethylene concentration (parts per million)

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Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Protective layer Abscission layer

Figure 39.16 Stem Petiole

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Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

• Systems biology seeks a comprehensive

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Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

• A graph called an action spectrum

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