Fatty Acid Methyl Esters (FAME) derived from cell wall of Oil Palm Roots Tissue associated with Ganoderma Boninense infection

Abstract

Ganoderma Boninense is a fungus that causes Basal Stem Rot Disease (BSR) in oil palm (Elaeis Guineensis Jacq.). This disease posses a serious threat to the cultivation and production of oil palm industry. In recent decades, rapid advances have been achieved in elucidation of metabolic and molecular process in oil palm defense mechanism against G. Boninense. Prior to the initiation of this work, no study appears to have been carried out on Fatty Acid Methyl Esters (FAME) in the cell wall roots of oil palm. The cell wall is the major line of defense against plant pathogens. It is the first physical barrier the pathogens must overcome in order to colonize the host. The cell wall can undergo rapid modification and reinforcement specifically at discrete sites of interaction with potentially Pathogenic Microbes (Underwood 2012) . Active reinforcement of the cell wall through the deposition of cell wall apositions is an early response to pathogen attacks. Fatty acids are widely occurring metabolites of living organisms which may mediate the chemical defense against microorganisms (Chandrasekaran et al., 2011). Although many of the FAME of oil palm have been extensively investigated to obtain volatile components, the need still remains for cell wall constituents. The objective of this study was to identify the major volatiles of FAME so as to see the differences in cell wall roots of Ganoderma inoculated and uninoculated oil palm seedling. This could probably contributed in proper understanding of oil palm defense mechanism and also their potential as molecular signature for BSR detection.