Investigations on the Activity of Cell Wall-degrading Enzymes in Young Wheat Plants After Infection with Pseudocercosporella herpotrichoides (From) Deighton

In earlier investigations, it has been demonstrated that Pseudocercosporella herpotrichoides (Fron) Deighton is capable of producing pectolytic and celluiolytic enzymes as well as hetnicellulases in vitro. The investigation of etizyme activity in extracts from wheat plants infected with P. herpotrichoides (isolates 21 e and R6) and from non-infected plants revealed the activity of the following enzymes: pectin methylesterase (PME), polymethylgalacturonase (PMG), pectin lyase (PL), carboxymethylcellulase (CMCase), xylanase and arabanase. Compared to non-infected plants, the enzyme activity in infected plants was considerably higher; in some experiments, only traces of enzyme activity could be found in control plants. The difference in the enzyme activity iti infected as compared to non-infected plants was, in most cases, statistically significant, especially beginning at the end of the second week after inoculation. The enzyme activity depended on the temperature during plant cultivation; with the exception of pectin methylesterase (PME), the activity of all investigated enzymes increased with temperature and the highest activity was found in plants grown at 20°C, The highest PME activity was measured in plants grown at lOʹC; the activity of this enzyme was generally lower at 15 and 20°C,