Premium
Development of an Arabidopsis thaliana ‐based bioassay for investigating seed colonization by mycotoxigenic Aspergillus species
Author(s) -
Hammond T. M.,
Tsitsigiannis D. I.,
Keller N. P.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
plant pathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.928
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1365-3059
pISSN - 0032-0862
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3059.2007.01644.x
Subject(s) - biology , arabidopsis thaliana , mycotoxin , aspergillus nidulans , sterigmatocystin , bioassay , mutant , aspergillus flavus , botany , inoculation , oxylipin , horticulture , genetics , gene
Seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana are hosts for three mycotoxin‐producing Aspergillus species, A. flavus , A. nidulans and A. parasiticus, enabling an Aspergillus ‐ Arabidopsis infection (AAI) assay to be developed. The AAI assay involved inoculation of 10‐ to 12‐mg aliquots of uniformly cultivated, surface‐sterilized A. thaliana seeds in microcentrifuge tubes. Use of microcentrifuge tubes facilitated qualitative and quantitative analyses of post‐infection characteristics such as sporulation and mycotoxin production. Cultivation of A. thaliana seeds under uniform environmental conditions is necessary to limit genotype‐independent seed‐lot variability. Using the A. nidulans oxylipin mutant, Δ ppoABC , and two well‐characterized A. thaliana pathogen‐defence mutants, ein2‐1 and pad4‐1 , the AAI assay permitted genetic analysis of seed infection and mycotoxin production. Sporulation, but not mycotoxin production, was impaired in A. nidulans ΔppoABC , while A. thaliana ein2‐1 and pad4‐1 had a small but detectable influence on A. nidulans sporulation that appeared to be dependent on seed age.