Phaseolin (Pha)

Phaseolin is a prenylated pterocarpan found in French bean seeds and in the stems of Erythrina subumbrans. Phaseollin accumulated locally at point-freezing injuries on hypocotyls of intact etiolated seedlings of Phaseolus vulgaris. Maximum amounts occurred within 24 to 30 h after injury. Smaller amounts accumulated at similar sites on hypocotyls excised at the time point-freezing injuries were made, and the accumulation was less localized. Increasing amounts of phaseollin occurred at sites increasingly distant from the cotyledonary nodes in both intact and excised hypocotyls. Much higher levels of phaseollin were elicited by excision per se than by point-freezing. Phaseollin was not detected after freezing of whole hypocotyls, indicating that living tissue adjacent to injuries is required for accumulation. The data are discussed in relation to host–parasite specificity, with particular reference to the interaction between P. vulgaris and Colletotrichum lindemuthianum.