The bean polygalacturonase-inhibiting protein 2 (PvPGIP2) is highly conserved in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) germplasm and related species

Unraveling the genomic reorganization of polygalacturonase-inhibiting proteins in chickpea

Polygalacturonase-inhibiting proteins (PGIPs) are cell wall proteins that inhibit pathogen polygalacturonases (PGs). PGIPs, like other defense-related proteins, contain extracellular leucine-rich repeats (eLRRs), which are required for pathogen PG recognition. The importance of these PGIPs in plant defense has been well documented. This study focuses on chickpea (Cicer arietinum) PGIPs (CaPGIPs) owing to the limited information available on this important crop. This study identified two novel CaPGIPs (CaPGIP3 and CaPGIP4) and computationally characterized all four CaPGIPs in the gene family, including the previously reported CaPGIP1 and CaPGIP2. The findings suggest that CaPGIP1, CaPGIP3, and CaPGIP4 proteins possess N-terminal signal peptides, ten LRRs, theoretical molecular mass, and isoelectric points comparable to other legume PGIPs. Phylogenetic analysis and multiple sequence alignment revealed that the CaPGIP1, CaPGIP3, and CaPGIP4 amino acid sequences are similar to the other PGIPs reported in legumes. In addition, several cis-acting elements that are typical of pathogen response, tissue-specific activity, hormone response, and abiotic stress-related are present in the promoters of CaPGIP1, CaPGIP3, and CaPGIP4 genes. Localization experiments showed that CaPGIP1, CaPGIP3, and CaPGIP4 are located in the cell wall or membrane. Transcript levels of CaPGIP1, CaPGIP3, and CaPGIP4 genes analyzed at untreated conditions show varied expression patterns analogous to other defense-related gene families. Interestingly, CaPGIP2 lacked a signal peptide, more than half of the LRRs, and other characteristics of a typical PGIP and subcellular localization indicated it is not located in the cell wall or membrane. The study's findings demonstrate CaPGIP1, CaPGIP3, and CaPGIP4's similarity to other legume PGIPs and suggest they might possess the potential to combat chickpea pathogens.

The potential of plant proteins as antifungal agents for agricultural applications

Fungal pathogens induce a variety of diseases in both plants and post-harvest food crops, resulting in significant crop losses for the agricultural industry. Although the usage of chemical-based fungicides is the most common way to control these diseases, they damage the environment, have the potential to harm human and animal life, and may lead to resistant fungal strains. Accordingly, there is an urgent need for diverse and effective agricultural fungicides that are environmentally- and eco-friendly. Plants have evolved various mechanisms in their innate immune system to defend against fungal pathogens, including soluble proteins secreted from plants with antifungal activities. These proteins can inhibit fungal growth and infection through a variety of mechanisms while exhibiting diverse functionality in addition to antifungal activity. In this mini review, we summarize and discuss the potential of using plant antifungal proteins for future agricultural applications from the perspective of bioengineering and biotechnology.

Exogenous application of methyl jasmonate induces a defense response and resistance against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in dry bean plants

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary is a necrotrophic fungal pathogen that causes a disease known as white mold, which is a major problem for dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and other crops in many growing areas in Brazil. To investigate the role of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) in defending dry bean plants against S. sclerotiorum, we used suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) of cDNA and identified genes that are differentially expressed during plant-pathogen interactions after treatment. Exogenous MeJA application enhanced resistance to the pathogen, and SSH analyses led to the identification of 94 unigenes, presumably involved in a variety of functions, which were classified into several functional categories, including metabolism, signal transduction, protein biogenesis and degradation, and cell defense and rescue. Using RT-qPCR, some unigenes were found to be differentially expressed in a time-dependent manner in dry bean plants during the interaction with S. sclerotiorum after MeJA treatment, including the pathogenesis-related protein PR3 (chitinase), PvCallose (callose synthase), PvNBS-LRR (NBS-LRR resistance-like protein), PvF-box (F-box family protein-like), and a polygalacturonase inhibitor protein (PGIP). Based on these expression data, the putative roles of differentially expressed genes were discussed in relation to the disease and MeJA resistance induction. Changes in the activity of the pathogenesis-related proteins β-1,3-glucanase, chitinase, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, and peroxidase in plants after MeJA treatment and following inoculation of the pathogen were also investigated as molecular markers of induced resistance. Foliar application of MeJA induced partial resistance against S. sclerotiorum in plants as well as a consistent increase in pathogenesis-related protein activities. Our findings provide new insights into the physiological and molecular mechanisms of resistance induced by MeJA in the P. vulgaris-S. sclerotiorum pathosystem.

An update on polygalacturonase-inhibiting protein (PGIP), a leucine-rich repeat protein that protects crop plants against pathogens

Polygalacturonase inhibiting proteins (PGIPs) are cell wall proteins that inhibit the pectin-depolymerizing activity of polygalacturonases secreted by microbial pathogens and insects. These ubiquitous inhibitors have a leucine-rich repeat structure that is strongly conserved in monocot and dicot plants. Previous reviews have summarized the importance of PGIP in plant defense and the structural basis of PG-PGIP interaction; here we update the current knowledge about PGIPs with the recent findings on the composition and evolution of pgip gene families, with a special emphasis on legume and cereal crops. We also update the information about the inhibition properties of single pgip gene products against microbial PGs and the results, including field tests, showing the capacity of PGIP to protect crop plants against fungal, oomycetes and bacterial pathogens.

Experimental and bioinformatic characterization of a recombinant polygalacturonase-inhibitor protein from pearl millet and its interaction with fungal polygalacturonases

Polygalacturonases (PGs) are hydrolytic enzymes employed by several phytopathogens to weaken the plant cell wall by degrading homopolygalacturonan, a major constituent of pectin. Plants fight back by employing polygalacturonase-inhibitor proteins (PGIPs). The present study compared the inhibition potential of pearl millet PGIP (Pennisetum glaucum; PglPGIP1) with the known inhibition of Phaseolus vulgaris PGIP (PvPGIP2) against two PGs, the PG-II isoform from Aspergillus niger (AnPGII) and the PG-III isoform from Fusarium moniliforme (FmPGIII). The key rationale was to elucidate the relationship between the extent of sequence similarity of the PGIPs and the corresponding PG inhibition potential. First, a pearl millet pgip gene (Pglpgip1) was isolated and phylogenetically placed among monocot PGIPs alongside foxtail millet (Setaria italica). Upstream sequence analysis of Pglpgip1 identified important cis-elements responsive to light, plant stress hormones, and anoxic stress. PglPGIP1, heterologously produced in Escherichia coli, partially inhibited AnPGII non-competitively with a pH optimum between 4.0 and 4.5, and showed no inhibition against FmPGIII. Docking analysis showed that the concave surface of PglPGIP1 interacted strongly with the N-terminal region of AnPGII away from the active site, whereas it weakly interacted with the C-terminus of FmPGIII. Interestingly, PglPGIP1 and PvPGIP2 employed similar motif regions with few identical amino acids for interaction with AnPGII at non-substrate-binding sites; however, they engaged different regions of AnPGII. Computational mutagenesis predicted D126 (PglPGIP1)-K39 (AnPGII) to be the most significant binding contact in the PglPGIP1-AnPGII complex. Such protein-protein interaction studies are crucial in the future generation of designer host proteins for improved resistance against ever-evolving pathogen virulence factors.

The pgip family in soybean and three other legume species: evidence for a birth-and-death model of evolution

BACKGROUND

Polygalacturonase-inhibiting proteins (PGIPs) are leucine-rich repeat (LRR) plant cell wall glycoproteins involved in plant immunity. They are typically encoded by gene families with a small number of gene copies whose evolutionary origin has been poorly investigated. Here we report the complete characterization of the full complement of the pgip family in soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.) and the characterization of the genomic region surrounding the pgip family in four legume species.

RESULTS

BAC clone and genome sequence analyses showed that the soybean genome contains two pgip loci. Each locus is composed of three clustered genes that are induced following infection with the fungal pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary, and remnant sequences of pgip genes. The analyzed homeologous soybean genomic regions (about 126 Kb) that include the pgip loci are strongly conserved and this conservation extends also to the genomes of the legume species Phaseolus vulgaris L., Medicago truncatula Gaertn. and Cicer arietinum L., each containing a single pgip locus. Maximum likelihood-based gene trees suggest that the genes within the pgip clusters have independently undergone tandem duplication in each species.

CONCLUSIONS

The paleopolyploid soybean genome contains two pgip loci comprised in large and highly conserved duplicated regions, which are also conserved in bean, M. truncatula and C. arietinum. The genomic features of these legume pgip families suggest that the forces driving the evolution of pgip genes follow the birth-and-death model, similar to that proposed for the evolution of resistance (R) genes of NBS-LRR-type.

Claviceps purpurea expressing polygalacturonases escaping PGIP inhibition fully infects PvPGIP2 wheat transgenic plants but its infection is delayed in wheat transgenic plants with increased level of pectin methyl esterification

Claviceps purpurea is a biotrophic fungal pathogen of grasses causing the ergot disease. The infection process of C. purpurea on rye flowers is accompanied by pectin degradation and polygalacturonase (PG) activity represents a pathogenicity factor. Wheat is also infected by C. purpurea and we tested whether the presence of polygalacturonase inhibiting protein (PGIP) can affect pathogen infection and ergot disease development. Wheat transgenic plants expressing the bean PvPGIP2 did not show a clear reduction of disease symptoms when infected with C. purpurea. To ascertain the possible cause underlying this lack of improved resistance of PvPGIP2 plants, we expressed both polygalacturonases present in the C. purpurea genome, cppg1 and cppg2 in Pichia pastoris. In vitro assays using the heterologous expressed PGs and PvPGIP2 showed that neither PG is inhibited by this inhibitor. To further investigate the role of PG in the C. purpurea/wheat system, we demonstrated that the activity of both PGs of C. purpurea is reduced on highly methyl esterified pectin. Finally, we showed that this reduction in PG activity is relevant in planta, by inoculating with C. purpurea transgenic wheat plants overexpressing a pectin methyl esterase inhibitor (PMEI) and showing a high degree of pectin methyl esterification. We observed reduced disease symptoms in the transgenic line compared with null controls. Together, these results highlight the importance of pectin degradation for ergot disease development in wheat and sustain the notion that inhibition of pectin degradation may represent a possible route to control of ergot in cereals.

Transgenic expression of polygalacturonase-inhibiting proteins in Arabidopsis and wheat increases resistance to the flower pathogen Fusarium graminearum

Fusarium head blight (FHB), caused by Fusarium graminearum, is one of the most important diseases of wheat worldwide, resulting in yield losses and mycotoxin contamination. The molecular mechanisms regulating Fusarium penetration and infection are poorly understood. Beside mycotoxin production, cell wall degradation may play a role in the development of FHB. Many fungal pathogens secrete polygalacturonases (PGs) during the early stages of infection, and plants have evolved polygalacturonase-inhibiting proteins (PGIPs) to restrict pectin degradation during fungal infection. To investigate the role of plant PGIPs in restricting the development of FHB symptoms, we first used Arabidopsis thaliana, whose genome encodes two PGIPs (AtPGIP1 and AtPGIP2). Arabidopsis transgenic plants expressing either of these PGIPs under control of the CaMV 35S promoter accumulate inhibitory activity against F. graminearum PG in their inflorescences, and show increased resistance to FHB. Second, transgenic wheat plants expressing the bean PvPGIP2 in their flowers also had a significant reduction of symptoms when infected with F. graminearum. Our data suggest that PGs likely play a role in F. graminearum infection of floral tissues, and that PGIPs incorporated into wheat may be important for increased resistance to FHB.

Polygalacturonase-inhibiting proteins--leucine-rich repeat proteins in plant defence

Plant polygalacturonase-inhibiting proteins (PGIPs) belong to the leucine-rich repeat (LRR) family and are known to prevent pathogen invasion by inhibiting the plant cell wall degrading enzyme, polygalacturonase. Our study reveals that these multigene-encoded defence proteins found in flowering plants only exhibit identical domain architecture with 10 tandemly-arranged LRRs. This implies that variations of PGIP inhibitory properties are not associated with the number of the repeats but with subtle changes in the sequence content of the repeats. The first and eighth repeat contain more mutations compared to the strict conservation of the plant-specific LRRs or any repeat at other positions. Each of these repeats forms a separate cluster in the phylogenetic tree, both within and across plant families, thus suggesting uniqueness with respect to their position. A study of the genes encoding PGIPs, shows the existence of two categories (i) single exon and hence no intron; and (ii) two exons with an intron in between. Analyses of the intron phase and correlation of the exon-intron structure with the compact structural modules in PGIPs support insertion of introns in the pre-existing single exon genes and thus the intron late model. Lack of conservation of phase across families and formation of individual clusters for each family in the phylogenetic tree drawn with the intron sequences illustrate the event of insertion that took place separately in each of these families.

Integration of evolutionary and desolvation energy analysis identifies functional sites in a plant immunity protein

Plant immune responses often depend on leucine-rich repeat receptors that recognize microbe-associated molecular patterns or pathogen-specific virulence proteins, either directly or indirectly. When the recognition is direct, a molecular arms race takes place where plant receptors continually and rapidly evolve in response to virulence factor evolution. A useful model system to study ligand-receptor coevolution dynamics at the protein level is represented by the interaction between pathogen-derived polygalacturonases (PGs) and plant polygalacturonase-inhibiting proteins (PGIPs). We have applied codon substitution models to PGIP sequences of different eudicotyledonous families to identify putative positively selected sites and then compared these sites with the propensity of protein surface residues to interact with protein partners, based on desolvation energy calculations. The 2 approaches remarkably correlated in pinpointing several residues in the concave face of the leucine-rich repeat domain. These residues were mutated into alanine and their effect on the recognition of several PGs was tested, leading to the identification of unique hotspots for the PGIP-PG interaction. The combined approach used in this work can be of general utility in cases where structural information about a pattern-recognition receptor or resistance-gene product is available.