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.