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Presymptomatic visualization of plant–virus interactions by thermography

Nature Biotechnology volume 17, pages 813–816 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

Salicylic acid (SA), produced by plants as a signal in defense against pathogens, induces metabolic heating mediated by alternative respiration in flowers of thermogenic plants, and, when exogenously applied, increases leaf temperature in nonthermogenic plants. We have postulated that the latter phenomenon would be detectable when SA is synthesized locally in plant leaves. Here, resistance to tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) was monitored thermographically before any disease symptoms became visible on tobacco leaves. Spots of elevated temperature that were confined to the place of infection increased in intensity from 8 h before the onset of visible cell death, and remained detectable as a halo around the ongoing necrosis. Salicylic acid accumulates during the prenecrotic phase in TMV-infected tobacco and is known to induce stomatal closure in certain species. We show that the time course of SA accumulation correlates with the evolution of both localized thermal effect and stomatal closure. Since the contribution of leaf respiration is marginal, we concluded that the thermal effect results predominantly from localized, SA-induced stomatal closure. The presymptomatic temperature increase could be of general significance in incompatible plant–pathogen interactions.

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Figure 1: Colocalization of thermal and visual lesions at TMV-infected sites.
Figure 2: Tobacco cv. Xanthi NN-TMV interaction.
Figure 3: Polarographic respiration measurements on TMV-infected (squares) and mock-infected (triangles) tissues.
Figure 4: Measurements of leaf transpiration by porometry on SA-sprayed (squares) and buffer-sprayed (triangles) leaves.
Figure 5: Correlation between transpiration, leaf temperature, and SA accumulation at a local infection site.
Figure 6: Effect of darkness on thermal effects in tobacco cv. Xanthi NN-TMV interaction.

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Acknowledgements

We thank T.J. Pons and R. Welschen (Department of Plant Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands) for advice on energy-budget calculations and steady state porometry and for help with respiratory and steady state porometrical measurements, respectively; O. Thas (Biomath Department, University of Gent, Belgium) for the statistical analysis with SAS; R. Samson (Department of Applied Ecology and Environmental Biology, University of Gent) for advice on diffusion porometrical measurements; J. Ryals (Novartis, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA) for providing the tobacco line NahG-10; and M. De Cock for lay-out. This research was supported by grants from the Fund for Scientific Research (Flanders) (G.0023.95N and 1.5.514.98). L.C. was a Research Assistant and D.V.D.S. is a Research Associate of the Fund for Scientific Research (Flanders).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorium voor Genetica, Departement Plantengenetica, Vlaams Interuniversitair Instituut voor Biotechnologie, Universiteit Gent , K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, Gent, B-9000, Belgium

    Laury Chaerle, Wim Van Caeneghem, Eric Messens, Marc Van Montagu & Dominique Van Der Straeten

  2. Plant Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, Nedland, 6907, WA, Australia

    Hans Lambers

  3. Department of Plant Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Utrecht University, Utrecht, NL-3584, CA, The Netherlands

    Hans Lambers

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  1. Laury Chaerle
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Correspondence to Dominique Van Der Straeten.

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Chaerle, L., Caeneghem, W., Messens, E. et al. Presymptomatic visualization of plant–virus interactions by thermography . Nat Biotechnol 17, 813–816 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/11765

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