Elicitation of isoflavan phytoalexins

Abstract

Lotus japonicus makes a good model legume species for the study of induced isoflavonoid phytoalexin biosynthesis. As part of its defence response against pathogens, Lotus leaves have been reported to produce a number of isoflavans, a specific class of isoflavonoids. Model systems for Lotus elicitation have been set up using the thiol reagent reduced glutathione as elicitor and the accumulation of phytoalexins has been monitored by analysis of vestitol, which is excreted into the media. In this article, we present two protocols for the elicitation of Lotus leaves and three methods for the analysis of the induced isoflavan vestitol.