Análise histológica de tecidos cultivados in vitro de plantas laticíferas, perfil de proteínas solúveis e ação contra fitopatógenos

Abstract

Laticifers plants have been studied by presenting a wide range of proteins related to plant defense in its latex. The aim of this study was to investigate, in tissue cultured in vitro, proteins and activities described for latex laticíferas two species. Tissue callus and roots of Cryptostegia grandiflora were obtained by in vitro tissues culture protocols and subjected to histological analysis for laticifers characterization. Cultured tissue of Calotropis procera were used as comparative reference in the analysis. There wasn’t any laticifer structure in callus or roots of C. grandiflora while in C. procera laticifers are formed in the roots. Soluble proteins were extracted from the cultured tissue and characterized using enzymatic assays, biochemical, immunological techniques and mass spectrometry. The presence of activity against phytopathogenic fungi was investigated and all data obtained were compared with the previously one determined for the plants studied latex. Callus and roots proteins of C. procera showed antifungal activity against pathogenic fungi. The percentage inhibition of the vegetative hyphae growth in the presence of callus and roots C. procera protein respectively were 75.5% and 82.6% for Fusarium solani, 76.7% and 57.1% for Rhizoctonia solani, 88.8% and 79.8% for Fusarium oxysporum, 93.7% and 90.2% for Colletotrichum lindemuthianum and 80.2% and 79.7% for Colletotrichum gloesporioides, however, showed no effect on Mucor sp. Callus and roots proteins of C. grandiflora showed no inhibitory effect on the hyphae growth or spores germination of assayed fungi. Through assays using fluorescent markers, it was demonstrated that proteins extracted from in vitro culture of C. procera interact with the membrane of C. gloesporioides causing leakage of cytoplasmic contents, possibly suggesting that its mechanism of action against fungi is related to the change in plasma membrane permeability. Also oxidative stress was observed in C. gloesporioides spores treated with callus and roots protein C. procera by hydrogen peroxide production. Protease inhibitors, chitinases, osmotins and proteases were detected in the C. procera callus and roots samples, however, osmotins and proteases were not observed in C. grandiflora callus and roots. The activity of antioxidant enzymes APX, G-POD and catalase were observed in tissue cultured in vitro of C. grandiflora. Considering that C. grandiflora laticifers proteases were demonstrated exert action against fungi, the results observed in this study suggest that the absence of antifungal activity in C. grandiflora cultured tissue is due to the absence of proteases in these tissues as well exclude chitinases and proteases inhibitors as antifungal proteins. The study concludes that the use of cultured tissues that do not differentiate laticifers is an interesting model to study activities associated to proteins founded in latex. Antifungal proteases present in C. grandiflora latex were not found in the tissues without laticifer formation.