title: Protein N-glycosylation is similar in the moss Physcomitrella patens and in higher plants.
abstract: We have investigated the structure of glycans N-linked to the proteins of the moss Physcomitrella patens. The structural elucidation was carried out by western blotting using antibodies specific for N-glycan epitopes and by analysis of N-linked glycans enzymatically released from a total protein extract by combination of MALDI-TOF and MALDI-PSD mass spectrometry analysis. Nineteen N-linked oligosaccharides were characterised ranging from high-mannose-type and truncated paucimannosidic-type to complex-type N-glycans harbouring core-xylose, core-alpha(1,3)-fucose and Lewis(a), as previously described for proteins from higher plants. This demonstrates that the processing of N-linked glycans, as well as the specificity of glycosidases and glycosyltransferases involved in this processing, are highly conserved between P. patens and higher plants. As a consequence, P. patens appears to be a new promising model organism for the investigation of the biological significance of protein N-glycosylation in the plant kingdom, taking advantage of the potential for gene targeting in this moss.
authors.affiliation: CNRS-UMR 6037, IFRMP 23, Université de Rouen, 76821 Mont Saint Aignan Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Remco
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Viëtor
authors.forename: Corinne
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Loutelier-Bourhis
authors.forename: Anne-Catherine
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Fitchette
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Margerie
authors.forename: Martine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gonneau
authors.forename: Loïc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Faye
authors.forename: Patrice
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lerouge
mesh_terms: D019068:Bryopsida / Q000378:metabolism*; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D006031:Glycosylation; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D010944:Plants / Q000378:metabolism*; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization
chemical_list: D006023:Glycoproteins; D010940:Plant Proteins; D011134:Polysaccharides