Showing papers on "Phytoalexin published in 1964"

A Phytoalexin Type of Reaction in the Botrytis Infection of Leaves of Bean ( Vicia faba L.)

Abstract: Botrytis fabae and B. cinerea produce discrete brown lesions on the leaves of bean (Vicia faba); but in high humidity the lesions caused by B. fabae spread although those caused by B. cinerea do not. Attempts to explain this difference in terms of interactions between the cell-wall hydrolysing enzymes of the fungi and the phenolic compounds of the host failed1. Muller2 suggested that abnormal metabolites, called phytoalexins, are formed when plant cells are invaded by fungi. Phytoalexins are fungitoxic and may be part of the defence system of the plant. Cruickshank and Perrin3 isolated from infected pea tissue a phytoalexin, called pisatin, which was fungistatic at the concentrations in which it appeared in the infection drops. Non-pathogens of peas caused the formation of pisatin in concentrations above its ED50 value, and pathogens that of pisatin below its ED50 value toward the fungi in these two groups in vitro4.