Extracts of the marine brown macroalga, Ascophyllum nodosum, induce jasmonic acid dependent systemic resistance in Arabidopsis thaliana against Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum

We studied the mechanism of Ascophyllum nodosum (a brown macroalga) induced resistance in Arabidopsis thaliana against Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000. Root treatment of A. thaliana Col-0 plants with extracts of A. nodosum [aqueous (ANE), chloroform (C-ANE) and ethylacetate fractions, (E-ANE)] reduced the development of disease symptoms on the leaves. These extracts also induced resistance in salicylic acid deficient NahG and ics1 plants. However, the extracts did not elicit an effect on jar1 (jasmonic acid resistance 1) mutant. A. nodosum extract induced resistance to Pst DC3000 correlated with increased expression of jasmonic acid related gene transcripts PDF1.2 while PR1 and ICS1 expression were less affected. Additionally, pretreatment of Arabidopsis plants with ANE, protected the plants from a necrotroph, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. The results suggest that the A. nodosum extracts can induce resistance in Arabidopsis to different pathogens which is largely jasmonic acid dependent.