Determination of De Novo Suberin-Lignin Ferulate Deposition in Xylem Tissue Upon Vascular Pathogen Attack

Plant vascular pathogens use different ways to reach the xylem vessels and cause devastating diseases in plants. Resistant and tolerant plants have evolved various defense mechanisms against vascular pathogens. Inducible physico-chemical structures, such as the formation of tyloses and wall reinforcements with phenolic polymers, are very effective barriers that confine the pathogen and prevent colonization. Here, we use a combination of classical histochemistry along with bright-field and fluorescence microscopy and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (2D-NMR) spectroscopy to visualize and characterize wall reinforcements containing phenolic wall polymers, namely, lignin, ferulates, and suberin, which occur in different xylem vasculature in response to pathogen attack.