Elicitin dimers - new players in elicitins biological activity
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| Year of publication | 2015 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
| Citation | |
| Description | Elicitins, classified as oomycete MAMPs, are a family of small proteins secreted by oomycetes species Phytophthora and Pythium inducing hypersensitive response and systemic acquired resistance in several host plants. On the basis of pI they are they are classified as acidic ?-elicitins (possessing 1-3 lysine residues) or much more necrotic (50- to 100-fold) basic ?-elicitins with 6-7 lysine residues. Despite the fact of different necrotic activities both class of elicitins bind with the same affinity to one high affinity binding site on the plasma membrane. One of the possible factors affecting elicitin activity in plants could be the previously observed ability of elicitins to form dimers under normal conditions. To clear up the role of dimer formation in elicitins biological activity a covalently crosslinked dimer of cryptogein by EGS (ethylene glycol bis[succinimidylsuccinate]) reagent was prepared. Consequently, the biological activity of this dimer on tobacco cell suspension and plants was determined by measuring of ROS production, induction of clathrine mediated endocytosis or changes in selected PR genes transcripts. The measured results showed different behaviour of cryptogein dimer after direct infiltration and petiole/stem application resembling in some features those of acidic elicitins and suggest the role of dimer formation not in direct perception but in migration within the plant, especially through the cell wall. |
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