Abstract

A new family of antimicrobial peptide homologues termed Sp-Amp has been discovered in Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine). This is the first report of such proteins to be characterized in a conifer species. Sp-AMP1 was identified in a substructured cDNA library of root tissue infected with the root rot fungus Heterobasidion annosum and encodes a mature peptide of 79 amino acid residues. Three additional members of the Sp-AMP family (Sp-AMPs 2-4) encode cysteine-rich proteins of 105 amino acids, each containing an N-terminal region with a probable cleavage signal sequence. Northern analysis confirmed that Sp-AMP expression is elevated in Scots pine roots upon infection with H. annosum. These peptides share 64% amino acid identity with a mature protein from Macadamia integrifolia (MiAMP1), which allowed us to build a homology model for preliminary analysis. Southern analyses further confirmed that several copies of the gene are present in the Scots pine genome. The potential significance of Sp-AMP in the H. annosum-conifer pathosystem is discussed. (C) 2003 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Keywords

Subtraction hybridization; Heterobasidion annosum; Expressed sequence tag; Pinus Sylvestris

Published in

FEMS Microbiology Letters
2003, Volume: 228, number: 1, pages: 27-31
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

SLU Authors

• Asiegbu, Frederick

  • Department of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-1097(03)00697-9

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/15