Gene Expression During Systemic Acquired Resistance in the Moss Amblystegium serpens

Indianapolis, IN

Vascular plants have many known defenses against herbivory and pathogen infection. These defenses have been studied extensively in the area of systemic acquired resistance (SAR), which is a broad resistance response to pathogen attack for the entire plant, and many genes related to SAR have been characterized. Before a recent study at Butler University was completed, there was no evidence confirming the presence of a systemic acquired resistance in moss. This study shows the presence of chalcone synthase (CHS), a high conserved defense gene, in moss. CHS is highly expressed following treatment with chitosan and decreases expression over time.