Living epidermal cells of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.)
were examined by contrast-enhanced video
microscopy during penetration by invasion hyphae of the monokaryotic stage of the
cowpea rust fungus (Uromyces
vignae Barclay race 1). In resistant or susceptible host cvs, the plant
nucleus migrated to the penetration site before
the fungus had fully penetrated the plant wall and, at sites of unsuccessful
infection, remained during the
formation of a callose-containing papilla. Nuclear migration was also induced by
applying hemicellulase, but not
H2O2, to localized sites of wall damage. Hemicellulase-induced
migration was inhibited by calcium chelators and
a protein kinase inhibitor, but not catalase. In both resistant and susceptible
cvs, the plant nucleus migrated away
from successful infection sites at about the time that the fungal penetration
peg made contact with the plant plasma
membrane, and the epidermal cell showed no further cytological responses to the
growth of the fungal intra-epidermal vesicle. In the susceptible cv., the
nucleus migrated back to the fungus when the latter initiated tip
growth. Inhibitors of transcription or translation did not affect this migration
and only slightly reduced fungal
growth. In the resistant cv. in which the invaded cell exhibited a hypersensitive
response (HR), the plant nucleus
changed its appearance before the cessation of cytoplasmic streaming and usually
did not migrate to the fungus,
even if the latter initiated tip growth. Nuclear DNA cleavage usually followed
the subsequent cessation of
cytoplasmic streaming. Treatments that delayed cell death and increased fungal
growth also increased the
frequency of nuclear migration to the fungus. It is argued that these and other
data suggest that U. vignae negates
nonspecific, penetration-induced, defence responses upon entering cells of
both susceptible and resistant cultivars.
The results also suggest that effects on the plant nucleus are one of the
earliest signs of the HR in this system, often
preceding the cessation of cytoplasmic streaming and detectable changes in
plasma membrane permeability.