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Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, known as the Red Palm Weevil (RPW), is reported as a pest of up to 40 palm species. However, the susceptibility degree and the defense mechanisms of these species against this weevil are still poorly known. In Europe, the RPW is a major pest of Phoenix canariensis while other palm species, including the congeneric Phoenix dactylifera, seem to be less suitable hosts for this insect. The aim of our study was to compare the defensive response of P. dactylifera, Chamaerops humilis and Washingtonia filifera against R. ferrugineus and try to define the mechanisms of resistance that characterize these species. Bioassays were carried out to evaluate the mortality induced on RPW larvae by extracts from the leaf rachis of the studied palm species. Tests at semi-field scale were also conducted, based either on forced palm infestation, with larvae of RPW, or on natural infestation, with adult females. Rachis extracts from C. humilis and W. filifera caused 100% larval mortality after 2 days of exposure, while extracts of P. dactylifera did not impair larval survival. Independently of the effect of the leaf extracts, the weevils were unable to naturally infest the three palm species, although larval survival was high after forced infestation of the plants. We concluded that the observed lack of infestation of P. dactylifera by RPW is due to factors other than antibiosis. In W. filifera and C. humilis, although the presence of antixenosis mechanisms cannot be excluded, resistance to R. ferrugineus seems to rely on the presence of antibiosis compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Armillaria mellea , the causal agent of root rot, is a fungal pathogen which proved able to convert the leguminous plant antifungal compound 4′,5,7-trihydroxyisoflavone (genistein) into intermediate metabolites. After suitable periods of incubation, the metabolites were extracted and concentrated from liquid culture media, containing both the isoflavone and the fungus. After purification by column chromatography, the molecular structure of the metabolites was determined by means of mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance analyses. Five different compounds were identified: 1,3,5-trihydroxybenzene, 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid, 2,5-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (homogentisic acid), its lactone 5-hydroxy-2(3H)-benzofuranone, and 1,4-benzoquinone. In vitro experiments showed that while the starting compound, i.e. genistein, has some activity in inhibiting the growth of the fungal pathogen, the degradation products are devoid of any appreciable fungitoxic activity. Moreover, results show that the isoflavone metabolites can be, at least partially, utilized by A. mellea as a carbon source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the detoxification of the acetophenone skeleton of the carnation phytoanticipin by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum. Reduction of the acetyl group to ethanol leading to the formation of phenylethanol; Stereospecifity of the reduction.

Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lilii (Fol), the causal agent of lily basal rot, produced fusaric acid (FA) in aseptic culture. This toxin induced phytotoxicity symptoms on in vitro-grown lily bulblets of two different cultivars: the Fol-susceptible cultivar was more sensitive to the toxin than the Fol-resistant cultivar. When cultured in the presence of FA, the Fol-susceptible cultivar showed a greater tendency to accumulate FA within its tissues than the Fol-resistant cultivar. The polyphenol oxidase activity of the bulblets was inhibited by 1 mmol L−1 FA in both the cultivars, while at lower FA concentrations the enzyme activity increased only in the Fol-susceptible cultivar. Peroxidase showed a steady activity at the 1 mmol L−1 FA concentration in both the cultivars, while at lower FA dosages its activity increased. Within the Fol-infected in vivo tissues of both the lily cultivars, FA was detectable only in traces. The role of this toxin in the lily basal rot disease seems therefore to be of marginal importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fungitoxic flavonol triglycoside, kaempferide 3-O-[2G-β-d-glucopyranosyl]-β-rutinoside, is a constituent of the carnation cultivar‘Novada’, known as one of the most resistant cultivar toFusarium oxysporumf. sp.dianthi, causative agent ofFusariumwilt. Due to its constitutive presence within the carnation tissues, this antifungal flavonol should be considered as a phytoanticipin; its biosynthesis, however, is stimulated by the inoculation withF. oxysporumf. sp.dianthi, just as is the rule for a typical phytoalexin. The results seem to indicate that in carnation the concentration of some preformed antifungal flavonoids may be significantly increased by a fungal presence: owing to their fungitoxic properties, these molecules could cooperate, together with the unconstitutive and postinfectional anthranilic acid-derivative phytoalexins, to the plant defensive response againstFusariumattacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]