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Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol. 51, No. 345, pp. 731-737, April 2000
© 2000 Oxford University Press

A glycoconjugate from corms of saffron plant (Crocus sativus L.) inhibits root growth and affects in vitro cell viability

José A. Fernández1,4,5, Julio Escribano1,4,6, Abel Piqueras2 and Joaquín Medina3

1 Sección de Biotecnología, IDR, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, E-02071 Albacete, Spain
2 Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura, CSIC, Aptdo. 4195, E-30080 Murcia, Spain
3 Departamento de Protección Vegetal, Centro de Investigación y Tecnología, INIA, Ctra. de La Coruña Km 7.5, E-28040 Madrid, Spain

A glycoconjugate has been characterized from saffron corms (Crocus sativus L.) that inhibits the growth of roots of Nicotiana tabacum and Arabidopsis thaliana, at concentrations ranging from 1–100 µg m-3. Roots of seedlings grown in the presence 0.1 µg m-3 glycoconjugate showed bulging of epidermal cells, whereas at 10 µg m-3, roots were completely devoid of hairs. At 100 µg m-3 glycoconjugate the cell walls of the root vascular tissues were thicker and, overall, the vascular tissue was enlarged. In addition, this glycan is cytotoxic to isolated tobacco cells and protoplasts, with 50% cell death induced by 0.5 and 2µg m-3 glycoconjugate, respectively. Morphological and biochemical changes induced by the exposure to the glycoconjugate included cell size decrease, loss of regular cell shape, cytoplasm collapse, and release of intracellular proteins. This molecule at low concentrations (0.1µg m-3) mimics the effects of Yariv phenylglycosides and of mutant Arabidopsis which present defective or missing arabinogalactan-proteins (AGPs) in roots, indicating the glycoconjugate might interact with cell surface AGPs.

Key words: Crocus sativus L., glycoconjugate, proteoglycan, root morphogenesis.


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