Micro-gel electrophoretic examination of soluble proteins in giant transfer cells and associated root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne javanica) in balsam roots

Jones, M.G.K.ORCID: 0000-0001-5002-0227 (1980) Micro-gel electrophoretic examination of soluble proteins in giant transfer cells and associated root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne javanica) in balsam roots. Physiological Plant Pathology, 16 (3). pp. 359-367.

Abstract

The patterns of gene expression in giant cells induced in balsam roots by the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne javanica, balsam root tips, leaves and the infective nematode were examined by SDS microgel electrophoresis. The pattern of protein and glycoprotein bands obtained for giant cells and root tips was almost identical, but differed from that of leaf tissues. The giant cell protein pattern, the first reported for a transfer cell, was consistent over the time course of examination (24–41 days after infection). It is concluded that giant cells do not act as specialized gland cells, but that their metabolism is a stimulated version of meristematic cell metabolism.

Results from localization of peroxidases on gels suggest that adult nematode peroxidase activity originates from giant cells by ingestion, and a role for this nematode peroxidase in giant cell induction or maintenance is unlikely. Initial experiments in which nematode galls were fed with 35S, followed by electrophoresis and fluorography, suggest that this approach is potentially useful in studying giant cell metabolism. Since adult nematodes contain more protein than the giant cells they feed from, the importance of micro-techniques to examine this association is stressed.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publisher:	Elsevier Ltd.
Copyright:	© 1980 Academic Press Inc. (London) Limited
URI:	http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/49854

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