VIEW ARTICLE

Physiology and Biochemistry

Involvement of Bacterial Protein Synthesis in Induction of the Hypersensitive Reaction in Tobacco. Myron Sasser, Associate Professor, Department of Plant Science, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19711; Phytopathology 68:361-363. Accepted for publication 12 August 1977. Copyright © 1978 The American Phytopathological Society, 3340 Pilot Knob Road, St. Paul, MN 55121. All rights reserved.. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-68-361.

Pseudomonas pisi treated with 100 μg ml^–1 streptomycin or 100 μg ml^–1 chloramphenicol, which inhibit protein synthesis, did not induce the hypersensitive reaction (HR) in tobacco. In vitro, the bacteria respired at a normal rate for more than 8 hr after antibiotic treatments. Antibiotic-resistant mutants induced the HR in the presence of the antibiotics, indicating that the effect of inhibition of protein synthesis was on the bacteria, not on the plant. Auxotrophic mutants of P. pisi with protein synthesis inhibited by amino acid starvation did not induce the HR unless the required amino acid was added.