Author(s)

Kouhei Fujise¹, Shinso Yokota², Hamako Sasamoto^3,4

¹Graduate School of Environment and Information Sciences, Yokohama National University, Yokohama, Japan.
²Faculty of Agriculture, Utsunomiya University, Utsunomiya, Japan.
³Faculty of Environment and Information Sciences, Yokohama National University, Yokohama, Japan.
⁴Research Institute for Integrated Science, Kanagawa University, Hiratsuka, Japan.

Dried leaves of Prunus yedoensis and P. lannesiana (50 mg) showed strong inhibitory allelopathic activities, e.g., more than 97% growth inhibition of lettuce seedling using the sandwich method. Similarly, among suspension cultures induced from leaves and peduncles of two Prunus species, we found the strongest inhibitory allelopathic activities of protoplasts of leaf-origin suspension cells of P. yedoensis, when the protoplast co-culture method for bioassay of allelopathy was applied with lettuce as a recipient plant. Effects of two putative allelochemicals, abscisic acid and coumarin, on both protoplast cultures of lettuce and P. yedoensis were investigated. Coumarin inhibited the growth of lettuce protoplasts from low concentrations, while abscisic acid stimulated. Abscisic acid inhibited the protoplast growth of P. yedoensis from low concentrations, while coumarin did not, but inhibited only at a high concentration (1 mM). Contents of abscisic acid in protoplasts were measured using small scale purification and Enzyme Linked Immno Sorbent Assay, and contents of coumarin in leaf-origin susepension cells of P. yedoensis were measured using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry. Coumarin was more likely the allelochemical causing the strong inhibitory allelopathic activities of P. yedoensis in the protoplast co-culture bioassay. Effectiveness of the protoplast co-culture bioassay method of allelopathy was discussed.

Allelopathy, Bioassay, Protoplast Culture, Prunus Species

Fujise, K. , Yokota, S. and Sasamoto, H. (2018) Evaluation of Allelochemicals, Abscisic Acid and Coumarin, in Leaf-Origin Suspension Cultured Cells of Prunus yedoensis Using Protoplast Co-Culture Bioassay Method. American Journal of Plant Sciences, 9, 172-184. doi: 10.4236/ajps.2018.92015.