Induction of a membrane intrinsic protein-encoding mRNA in arbuscular mycorrhiza and elicitor-stimulated cell suspension cultures of parsley

Expression of a gene coding for a membrane intrinsic protein (MIP) has been detected during plant-fungal interactions in parsley. A full length cDNA sequence was obtained by RACE of an RT-PCR fragment amplified from parsley arbuscular mycorrhiza poly(A)+ RNA, using primers corresponding to conserved regions of plant MIPs. The deduced peptide, named PcRB7, showed high similarity to proteins of the MIP family, the greatest being to TobRB7 from tobacco. pcrb7 mRNA accumulated in parsley roots colonised by the symbiotic mycorrhizal fungus Glomus fasciculatum and in suspension-cultured cells following treatment with an elicitor from the phytopathogenic fungus, Phytophthora sojae. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.