Our study also demonstrated that BR induces another
class of defense proteins called horcolin that can interact with
carbohydrates and trigger a stress-signaling pathway .
Upregulation of ABA and auxin-inducible genes and downregulation
of a jasmonate-inducible gene indicates a complete
alteration of the hormonal profile in barley seedling during
Fusarium infection in response to BR treatment. Recent findings
have also made it clear that BR signaling components mainly
interact with the signaling elements of other hormonal pathways
at the transcriptional level . Korableva et al. observed
that, under the influence of BRs, ET synthesis in tuber tissues
increased. Similarly, epiBL treatment may also trigger ET synthesis
in barley seedlings, resulting in upregulation of senescenceassociated
genes. Thus, our findings further strengthen the
concept of crosstalk between BRs and other plant hormones. In a
recent study, we observed that indole acetic acid application
triggers defense against FHB in barley . Another gene worth
investigating is steroleosin, which was upregulated in barley
seedlings as a result of growth in epiBL during Fusarium infection.
Because it is involved in plant signal transduction regulated
by various sterols , its role in BR-mediated signaling will be
interesting to study.
In conclusion, the present study confirmed that BR exerts a
wide variety of effects on both plant growth and development in
diseased plants, from the activation of plant photosystems to
chromatin remodeling. Most importantly, it has shown that BR
application in barley triggers systemic signals against the plantpathogenic
fungus F. culmorum, resulting in a significant reduction
in fungal infection and components that contribute to
yield loss.