Mechanisms of resistance to Phytophthora cinnamomi in clonal, micropropagated Eucalyptus marginata

Plants of the eucalypt. Eucalyptus marginata. selected through a glasshouse screening procedure for resistance or susceptibility to Phytophthora cinnamomi , were established in tissue culture and micropropagated. After inoculation with P. cinnamomi , root lesions in clonal lines selected as resistant (RR) to P. cinnamomi were restricted and became contained within four days after inoculation while lesions in roots of those lines susceptible (SS) to P. cinnamomi continued to extend rapidly. Activity of phenylalanine ammonialyase (PAL) was increased above controls in root segments of the RR lines 48 h after inoculation with P. cinnamomi while activity in unselected seedlings and the SS lines was reduced or unchanged. After inoculation, lignin concentration was increased and reached high levels compared with uninoculated control levels in roots of the two RR lines tested. Constitutive levels of phenolics in roots of the RR lines were up to 94% higher than in seedling roots and levels were further increased after inoculation. Levels of phenolics in the other lines and seedlings were unaltered by inoculation. A line derived from resistant seedlings from a susceptible family (RS) had the highest constitutive levels of lignin, which were further increased after inoculation. Resistance to P. cinnamomi in clonally propagated E. marginata seedlings is based on similar mechanisms to those of field resistant species.