Elicitors of defence responses repress a gibberellin signalling pathway in barley embryos

Elicitors of defence response can modulate pathways others than those
related to pathogen attacks. Indeed, data are available in literature
indicating that elicitors such as oligogalacturonides and chitosan can
alter respectively the response to auxin and may mimic the action of sugars
as signalling molecules.
In the present paper we demonstrate that, similarly to the effect of
sugars, chitosan and oligogalacturonides (OGs) can repress the gibberellin
signalling pathway leading to the induction of alpha-amylase in barley
embryos. These results are suggestive of a complex cross-talk between the
defence, hormonal and metabolic signalling pathways.