Plant Protect. Sci., 2014, 50(3):119-128 | DOI: 10.17221/67/2012-PPS

Differential phenolic accumulation in two Hypericum species in response to inoculation with Diploceras hypericinum and PseudomonasputidaOriginal Paper

CÜneyt Çirak¹, Jolita Radusiene², Hasan Murat Aksoy³, Rimute Mackinaite², Zydrunas Stanius², Necdet Camas¹, Mehmet Serhat Odabas¹

¹ Vocational High School of Bafra, Ondokuz Mayis University, Samsun, Turkey

² Institute of Botany, Nature Research Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania

³ Plant Protection Department, Agricultural Faculty, Ondokuz Mayis University, Samsun, Turkey$2

The genus Hypericum L. (St. John's-wort, Hypericaceae) has received scientific interest in recent years, because it is a source of a variety of bioactive compounds including the phenolics. We determine whether the typical phenolic constituents of Hypericum plants, namely chlorogenic acid, rutin, hyperoside, isoquercetine, quercitrine, and quercetine, may be implicated as part of an inducible plant defence response in two St. John's-wortspecies, Hypericum perforatum L. and Hypericum triquetrifolium Turra. To achieve this objective, greenhouse-grown plantlets were inoculated with the fungal pathogen Diploceras hypericinum and the plant growth promoting bacterium Pseudonomas putida. Phenolic compounds levels of the Hypericum plantlets increased significantly in response to inoculation with both organisms. So far, little effort has been dedicated to investigate whether phenolic compounds are inducible by pathogen/herbivore attack or if they could play a role in plant defence. Results from the study indicate that the phenolic compounds investigated could be involved in the plant defence system and implicated as part of an inducible plant defence response in both St. John's Wort species.

Keywords: fungal pathogen; Hypericum perforatum; Hypericum triquetrifolium; phenolic compounds; plant defence; bacterial infection

Published: September 30, 2014  Show citation