title: LysM domains of Medicago truncatula NFP protein involved in Nod factor perception. Glycosylation state, molecular modeling and docking of chitooligosaccharides and Nod factors.
abstract: The establishment of the symbiosis between legume plants and rhizobial bacteria depends on the production of rhizobial lipo-chitooligosaccharidic signals (the Nod factors) that are specifically recognized by roots of the host plant. In Medicago truncatula, specific recognition of Sinorhizobium meliloti and its Nod factors requires the NFP (Nod factor perception) gene, which encodes a putative serine/threonine receptor-like kinase (RLK). The extracellular region of this protein contains three tandem lysin motifs (LysMs), a short peptide domain that is implicated in peptidoglycan or chitin binding in various bacterial or eukaryotic proteins, respectively. We report here the homology modeling of the three LysM domains of M. truncatula NFP based on the structure of a LysM domain of the Escherichia coli membrane-bound lytic murein transglycosidase D (MltD). Expression of NFP in a homologous system (M. truncatula roots) revealed that the protein is highly N-glycosylated, probably with both high-mannose and complex glycans. Surface analysis and docking calculations performed on the models of the three domains were used to predict the most favored binding modes for chitooligosaccharides and Nod factors. A convergent model can be proposed where the sulfated, O-acetylated lipo-chitooligosaccharidic Nod factor of S. meliloti binds in similar orientation to the three LysM domains of M. truncatula NFP. N-glycosylation is not expected to interfere with Nod factor binding in this orientation.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherches sur les Macromolécules Végétales, CNRS (affiliated with Université Joseph Fourier), 601 rue de la Chimie, BP 53, 38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France.
authors.forename: Lonneke
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mulder
authors.forename: Benoit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lefebvre
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cullimore
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Imberty
mesh_terms: D020816:Amino Acid Motifs / Q000235:genetics; D006031:Glycosylation; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D046913:Medicago truncatula / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D008958:Models, Molecular; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011485:Protein Binding / Q000235:genetics; D046188:Protein Modification, Translational / Q000502:physiology; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary / Q000235:genetics; D027343:Rhizome / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D016962:Sinorhizobium meliloti / Q000502:physiology; D013559:Symbiosis / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D010940:Plant Proteins