Methyl Jasmonate treatment

Cane, K. A., Mayer, M., Lidgett, A. J., Michael, A. J. and Hamill, J. D. 2005. Molecular analysis of alkaloid metabolism in AABB v. aabb genotype Nicotiana tabacum in response to wounding of aerial tissues and methyl jasmonate treatment of cultured roots. Functional Plant Biology, 32(4) 305-320. 

Methyl jasmonate treatment not only triggers a dramatic change in terpene quantity, but also causes changes in terpene composition. For example, of the two major monoterpenes in the wood, a-pinene and P-pinene, the proportion of a-pinene to P-pinene changed from about 1 1 in control saplings to 1 2 after methyl jasmonate treatment, with increases in the relative amounts of the (-)-enantiomers in relation to the (+)-enantiomers of both compounds. Among the diterpenes, levopimaric acid increased over 5-fold after methyl jasmonate treatment in comparison to a 2.5-fold increase in most of the other major diterpene acids. 

Fig. 1.1 Induced anatomical defense responses in Norway spruce. (A, B) Formation of a ring of new, traumatic resin ducts (TD, arrowheads) in the xylem of 2-year-old Norway spruce saplings after application of methyl jasmonate. A large cortical resin duct (CD) can be observed in the phloem, but these ducts do not appear to respond to methyl jasmonate treatment. (C) Normal phloem and sapwood anatomy of an older tree, with concentric rings of polyphenolic parenchyma cells (PP) in the phloem above the cambium (X) and normal wood below. (D) After treatment with methyl jasmonate or fungal infection the PP cells increase greatly in size and traumatic resin ducts (arrowheads) forms in the wood.

P. microphyllus seedlings were subjugated to different stressing factors and elicitors, such as hypoxia, salt stress, wounding, nutrient (nitrogen/potassium) omission, salicylic acid, and methyl jasmonate [53]. A time of exposure/concen-tration relationship of salicylic acid and methyl jasmonate treatments increased pilocarpine accumulation over control in a fourfold factor. Further conditions on the other hand reduced pilocarpine production. 

Zeneli G, Krokene P, Christiansen E, Krekling T, Gershenzon J (2006) Methyl jasmonate treatment of mature Norway spmce (Picea abies) trees increases the accumulation of... 

It has been observed that treatment with natural antimicrobial volatiles also affected the antioxidant capacity of fruits (Ayala-Zavala and others 2005). ORAC values of control strawberries changed during storage at 7.5°C (Fig. 11.3, III). However, significant increases in antioxidant capacity values were observed in strawberries treated with methyl jasmonate, methyl jasmonate-ethanol, and ethanol. One explanation for this difference could be associated with differences on total phenol content (Ayala-Zavala and others 2005). 

Treatment of strawberry with methyl jasmonate resulted in a significant increase in total phenol content. However, even though antioxidant activity was the highest in those berries treated with methyl jasmonate, the combination methyl jasmonate-ethanol was the most effective in extending the shelf life. It appears that methyl jasmonate and ethanol treatments had an additive effect in maintaining quality of strawberries but not in retaining high antioxidant activity. 

Figure 11.3. Effect of natural product treatment (methyl jasmonate MJ 22 ptg/liter, ethanol ETOH 400 pl/liter, methyl jasmonate-ethanol (MJ-ETOH) on (I) total antho-cyanins (mg/100 g FW), (II) total phenols (mg/100 g FW), and (III) antioxidant capacity measured as ORAC (p.mol TE/g FW) of strawberry fruit (cv. Chandler) stored at 5°C. Bars show the final values after treatments. Different letters on top of the bars indicate statistical differences among treatments (p < 0.05).

Ayala-Zavala JF, Wang SY, Wang CY and Gonzalez-Aguilar GA. 2005. Methyl jasmonate in conjunction with ethanol treatment increases antioxidant capacity, volatile compounds and postharvest life of strawberry fruit. Eur Food Res Technol 221(6) 731-738. 

The interdependence of methyl jasmonate with chitin- and chitosan-derived elicitors was studied using plant cell suspension cultures of Taxus canadensis. Induction of the biosynthesis of paditaxel and other taxanes was enhanced when methyl jasmonate and elicitors were added 8 days after culture transfer compared to treatments in which only methyl jasmonate or only elicitor was added. The optimal elicitor concentration using AT-acetylchitohexaose was 0.450 pM, but only in the presence of methyl jasmonate. Little, if any, induction of taxane formation occurred with the oligosaccharide alone. The optimal methyl jasmonate concentration was 200 pM using colloidal chitin or oligosaccharides of chitin and chitosan as elicitors. 

Thirty-six plant species tested in cell suspension culture could be elicited by exogenously supplied methyl jasmonate to accumulate secondary metabolites by a factor of 9 to 30 over the control values. Induction by MJ was not specific to any one type of secondary metabolite but rather general to a wide spectrum of low molecular weight substances ranging from flavonoids, guaianolides and anthraquinones to various classes of alkaloids [96]. Endogenous jasmonic acid and its methyl ester (MJ) accumulate rapidly and transiently after treatment of plant cell suspension cultures of Rauvolfia canescens and Eschscholtzia califor-nica with a yeast elicitor [97]. 

Fig. 1.10 Effect of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) treatment on the levels of the major soluble phenolic compounds in two year-old P. abies saplings. No significant differences were observed between treated and control plants four weeks after treatment,...

HUBER, D.P.W., PHILIPPE, R.N., MADILAO, L.L., STURROCK, R.N., BOHLMANN, J., Changes in anatomy and terpene chemistry in roots of Douglas-fir seedlings following treatment methyl jasmonate. Tree Physiol, 2005, in press. 

Bohland, C., Balkenhohl, T., Loers, G. et al. 1997. Differential induction of lipoxygenase isoforms in wheat upon treatment with rust fungus elicitor, chitin oligosaccharides, Chitosan, and Methyl Jasmonate. Plant Physiol. 114(2) 679-685. 

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