Differences in the recognition of glucan elicitor signals between rice and soybean: beta-glucan fragments from the rice blast disease fungus Pyricularia oryzae that elicit phytoalexin biosynthesis in suspension-cultured rice cells.

Partial acid/enzymatic hydrolysis of the beta-(1-->3, 1-->6)-glucan from the cell walls of the rice blast disease fungus Pyricularia oryzae (Magnaporthe grisea) released elicitor-active fragments that induced phytoalexin biosynthesis in suspension-cultured rice cells. From the digestion of the glucan by an endo-beta-(1-->3)-glucanase, one highly elicitor-active glucopentaose was purified as a reduced compound, tetraglucosyl glucitol. The structure of this tetraglucosyl glucitol as well as two other related tetraglucosyl glucitols was elucidated as follows: (1) Glcbeta(1-->3)Glcbeta(1-->3)(Glcbeta(1-->6)) Glcbeta(1-->3)Glucitol (most active fragment); (2) Glcbeta(1-->3)(Glcbeta(1-->6))Glcbeta(1-->3)Glcbeta (1-->3)Glucitol; and (3) Glcbeta(1-->6) Glcbeta(1-->3)Glcbeta(1-->3)Glcbeta(1-->3)Glucitol. However, a synthetic hexa-beta-glucoside, known as a minimal structural element for the phytoalexin elicitor for soybean cotyledon cells, did not induce phytoalexin biosynthesis in the rice cells. Conversely, the beta-glucan fragment from P. oryzae did not induce phytoalexin biosynthesis in the soybean cotyledon cells, indicating differences in the recognition of glucooligosaccharide elicitor signals in these two plants. Because rice cells have been shown to recognize chitin fragments larger than pentamers as potent elicitors, these results also indicate that the rice cells can recognize at least two types of oligosaccharides from fungal cell walls as signal molecules to initiate defense response.