Gianluca Burchi
Italy
Research Article
Possible Role of Sphingolipids in Developmental Programmed Cell Death of Petunia Petals
Author(s): Domenico Prisa and Gianluca BurchiDomenico Prisa and Gianluca Burchi
A type of programmed cell death (PCD) in animals is due to lysosomal membrane permeabilisation or rupture. One of the suggested reasons is sphingolipid accumulation in the membrane. In plants many examples of PCD, including petal senescence, are due to vacuolar permeabilisation and rupture. Using Petunia flowers, we tested the effect on PCD of sphingolipids and of sphinglolipid synthesis inhibitors. Feeding flowers with five main sphingolipids (sphinganine, phytosphingosine, dihydroceramide, ceramide and sphingosine) hastened PCD. Feeding phytosphingosine together with silver thiosulphate, an inhibitor of ethylene perception, completely prevented the PCD-promoting effect of phytosphingosine, suggesting that its acts through ethylene. Feeding together with the reactive oxygen species scavenger N-acetylcysteine had no effect, while the scavenger ascorbic acid only had a slight alleviati.. View More»
