Respiratory control: loss in mitochondria from diseased plants.

Mitochondria from healthy oat seedlings oxidized succinate with good respiratory control and high ratios of adenosine diphosphate to oxygen. After treatment with victorin, the pathotoxin responsible for symptoms of Victoria blight of oats, susceptible seedlings yielded mitochondria with little respiratory control and lower ratios of adenosine diphosphate to oxygen. No such effects were obtained with victorin-treated resistant seedlings or when victorin was added directly to mitochondria from healthy susceptible or resistant plants. These data indicate that victorin-induced disease results in a reduction in efficiency of the energy-generating system of isolated mitochondria.