title: Molecular characterization of a subtilase from the vascular wilt fungus Fusarium oxysporum.
abstract: The gene prt1 was isolated from the tomato vascular wilt fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici, whose predicted amino acid sequence shows significant homology with subtilisin-like fungal proteinases. Prt1 is a single-copy gene, and its structure is highly conserved among different formae speciales of F. oxysporum. Prt1 is expressed constitutively at low levels during growth on different carbon and nitrogen sources and strongly induced in medium containing collagen and glucose. As shown by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and fluorescence microscopy of F. oxysporum strains carrying a prt1-promoter-green fluorescent protein fusion, prt1 is expressed at low levels during the entire cycle of infection on tomato plants. F. oxysporum strains transformed with an expression vector containing the prt1 coding region fused to the inducible endopolygalacturonase pg1 gene promoter and grown under promoter-inducing conditions secreted high levels of extracellular subtilase activity that resolved into a single peak of pI 4.0 upon isoelectric focusing. The active fraction produced two clearing bands of 29 and 32 kDa in sodium dodecyl sulfate gels containing gelatin. Targeted inactivation of prt1 in F. oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici had no detectable effect on mycelial growth, sporulation, and pathogenicity on tomato plants.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Genética, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Córdoba, Spain. ge2dipia@uco.es
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Pietro
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Huertas-González
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Gutierrez-Corona
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Martínez-Cadena
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Méglecz
authors.forename: M I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Roncero
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001224:Aspartic Acid; D001665:Binding Sites; D005670:Fusarium / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D006639:Histidine; D007700:Kinetics; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000382:microbiology*; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000201:enzymology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D011096:Polygalacturonase / Q000235:genetics; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012694:Serine; D013381:Subtilisins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D001224:Aspartic Acid; D012694:Serine; D006639:Histidine; D011096:Polygalacturonase; D013381:Subtilisins