The sugar alcohol mannitol is a carbohydrate with well-documented roles in both metabolism and osmoprotection in plants and fungi. In addition, however, mannitol is an antioxidant, and current research suggests that pathogenic fungi can secrete mannitol into the plant’s extracellular spaces during infection to suppress reactive oxygen-mediated host defenses. In response to pathogen attack, plants have been shown to secrete the normally symplastic enzyme, mannitol dehydrogenase (MTD). Given that MTD converts mannitol to the sugar mannose, extracellular MTD may be an important defense against mannitol-secreting fungal pathogens. Previous work demonstrated that overexpression of MTD in tobacco did, in fact, provide increased resistance to the mannitol-secreting fungal pathogen Alternaria alternata. In the present work we demonstrate that the fungal pathogen Botrytis cinerea also can secrete mannitol, and that overexpression of MTD in zonal geranium (Pelargonium × hortorum) in turn provides increased resistance to B. cinerea. These results are not only an important validation of previous work, but support the idea that MTD-overexpression might be used to engineer a broad variety of plants for resistance to mannitol-secreting fungal pathogens like B. cinerea for which specific resistance is lacking.

The sugar alcohol mannitol is an important carbohydrate with well-documented roles in both metabolism and osmoprotection in many plants and fungi. In addition to these traditionally recognized roles, mannitol is reported to be an antioxidant and as such may play a role in host–pathogen interactions. Current research suggests that pathogenic fungi can secrete mannitol into the apoplast to suppress reactive oxygen-mediated host defenses. Immunoelectron microscopy, immunoblot, and biochemical data reported here show that the normally symplastic plant enzyme, mannitol dehydrogenase (MTD), is secreted into the apoplast after treatment with the endogenous inducer of plant defense responses salicylic acid (SA). In contrast, a cytoplasmic marker protein, hexokinase, remained cytoplasmic after SA-treatment. Secreted MTD retained activity after export to the apoplast. Given that MTD converts mannitol to the sugar mannose, MTD secretion may be an important component of plant defense against mannitol-secreting fungal pathogens such as Alternaria. After SA treatment, MTD was not detected in the Golgi apparatus, and its SA-induced secretion was resistant to brefeldin A, an inhibitor of Golgi-mediated protein transport. Together with the absence of a known extracellular targeting sequence on the MTD protein, these data suggest that a plant’s response to pathogen challenge may include secretion of selected defensive proteins by as yet uncharacterized, non-Golgi mechanisms.

The traditional use of polyols as osmotica in plant culture media is based on the assumption that polyols are not taken up or metabolized by cells. In reality, polyols are significant photosynthetic products and efficiently utilized metabolites in a large number of plants. In addition to these metabolic roles, initial interest in polyols focused primarily on their function as osmoprotectants. This was hypothesized to be due to their ability to act as compatible solutes. More recent research, however, indicates much broader roles for polyols in stress responses based on their significant antioxidant capacity. These include protection against salt and photooxidative stress as well as a potential role in plant pathogen interactions.

Of the growing list of promising genes for plant improvement, some of the most versatile appear to be those involved in sugar alcohol metabolism. Mannitol, one of the best characterized sugar alcohols, is a significant photosynthetic product in many higher plants. The roles of mannitol as both a metabolite and an osmoprotectant in celery (Apium graveolens) are well documented. However, there is growing evidence that 'metabolites' can also have key roles in other environmental and developmental responses in plants. For instance, in addition to its other properties, mannitol is an antioxidant and may have significant roles in plant-pathogen interactions. The mannitol catabolic enzyme mannitol dehydrogenase (MTD) is a prime modulator of mannitol accumulation in plants. Because the complex regulation of MTD is central to the balanced integration of mannitol metabolism in celery, its study is crucial in clarifying the physiological role(s) of mannitol metabolism in environmental and metabolic responses. In this study we used transformed Arabidopsis to analyze the multiple environmental and metabolic responses of the Mtd promoter. Our data show that all previously described changes in Mtd RNA accumulation in celery cells mirrored changes in Mtd transcription in Arabidopsis. These include up-regulation by salicylic acid, hexokinase-mediated sugar down-regulation, and down-regulation by salt, osmotic stress and ABA. In contrast, the massive up-regulation of Mtd expression in the vascular tissues of salt-stressed Arabidopsis roots suggests a possible role for MTD in mannitol translocation and unloading and its interrelation with sugar metabolism.