The dish pack method, which measures growth inhibition or promotion effects of volatile compounds on germinating seeds, was applied to measure the antifungal effects of 52 dried samples of spices and herbs against a soil-borne phytopathogenic fungus, Fusarium oxysporum. Black zira showed the strongest effect, followed by cumin and cardamom. Headspace sampling and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of black zira identified seven volatile compounds, gamma-terpinene, limonene, p-cymene, beta-pinene, alpha-pinene, cuminaldehyde, and myrcene. Among these, cuminaldehyde and p-cymene showed the strongest antifungal activities against F. oxysporum, suggesting roles in the antifungal activity of black zira. The same compounds also showed antifungal activities against another soil-borne phytopathogenic fungus, Verticillium dahliae, and foliar phytopathogenic fungi, Botrytis cinerea and Alternaria mali. The total activity calculated from the concentration of cuminaldehyde contained in black zira and its EC(50) against F. oxysporum demonstrated that cuminaldehyde is the main antifungal compound detected in black zira.

Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) is an important annual plant cultivated for grain or as a cover crop in many countries, and it is also used for weed suppression in agro-economic systems through its release of allelochemicals. Little is known, however, concerning the mode of action of allelochemicals or plant defence response against them. Here, microarrays revealed 94, 85, and 28 genes with significantly higher expression after 6 h of exposure to the allelochemicals fagomine, gallic acid, and rutin, respectively, compared with controls. These induced genes fell into different functional categories, mainly: interaction with the environment; subcellular localization; protein with binding function or cofactor requirement; cell rescue; defence and virulence; and metabolism. Consistent with these results, plant response to allelochemicals was similar to that for pathogens (biotic stress) or herbicides (abiotic stress), which increase the concentration of reactive oxygen species (ROS; with consequent oxidative stress) in plant cells. The data indicate that allelochemicals might have relevant functions, at least in part, in the cross-talk between biotic and abiotic stress signalling because they generate ROS, which has been proposed as a key shared process between these two stress mechanisms.

Velvetbean (Mucuna pruriens) plants impede the growth of neighboring plants. One compound, 3-(3',4'-dihydroxyphenyl)-L-alanine (L-DOPA), is responsible for the allelopathic capacity of velvetbean. This compound is an active allelochemical that decreases root growth of several plant species. In mammals, L-DOPA is a well-known therapeutic agent for the symptomatic relief of Parkinson's disease. However, its mode of action in plants is still not well understood. To address such issues, gene expression in Arabidopsis thaliana plants, which had been exposed to L-DOPA, was analyzed using DNA microarrays. After 6 h of L-DOPA exposure, the expression of 110 genes was significantly upregulated, and the expression of 69 genes was significantly downregulated. These induced genes can be divided into different functional categories, mainly on the basis of subcellular localization, metabolism, and proteins with a binding function or cofactor requirement. Based on these results, we suggest that L-DOPA acts by two mechanisms: it influences amino acid metabolism and deregulates metal homeostasis, especially that of iron, which is required for the fundamental biological processes of all organisms.

Expressions of the gibberellin biosynthesis gene were investigated in a normal upright type and a gravi-response mutant, a weeping type of Japanese flowering cherry (Prunus spachiana), that is unable to support its own weight and elongates downward. A segment of the gibberellin 3β-hydroxylase cDNA of Prunus spachiana (Ps3ox), which is responsible for active gibberellin synthesis, was amplified by using real-time RT-PCR. The content of Ps3ox mRNA in the weeping type was much greater than that in the upright type, while the endogenous gibberellin level was much higher in the elongating zone of the weeping type. These results suggest that the amount and distribution of synthesized gibberellin regulate secondary xylem formation, and the unbalanced distribution of gibberellin affects the gravi-response of the Prunus tree.

cis-Cinnamoyl glucosides are the allelochemicals in Thunberg's meadowsweet (Spiraea thunbergii). The essential chemical structure responsible for the bioactivity of cis-cinnamoyl glucosides, cis-cinnamic acid (cis-CA), strongly inhibits the root growth of several plant species; however, its mode of action has not been characterized at the gene expression level. We conducted a time-course microarray analysis of gene expression in Arabidopsis in response to 20 µM cis-CA.Comparison of the microarray profiles revealed a 10-fold upregulation of several auxin-responsive GRETCHEN HAGEN-3 (GH3) genes and LATERAL ORGAN BOUNDARIES DOMAIN/ASYMMETRIC LEAVES2-LIKE (LBD) genes from 2 h to 6 h post-treatment. Two early auxin-responsive gene families, the Aux/IAA family (IAA1, IAA5) and the GH3 family (GH3.1, GH3.2, GH3.3), and an LBD gene (LBD16) were markedly upregulated at 2 h after treatment in the roots, but not in the shoots, of Arabidopsis and remained highly expressed for 4 h. The influence of an exogenous application of cis-CA on the indole-3-acetic acid pathway strongly suggests that a root-targeted induction of auxin-responsive genes is involved in the cis-CA-mediated plant growth inhibition.