title: A cysteine-rich antimicrobial peptide from Pinus monticola (PmAMP1) confers resistance to multiple fungal pathogens in canola (Brassica napus).
abstract: Canola (Brassica napus), an agriculturally important oilseed crop, can be significantly affected by diseases such as sclerotinia stem rot, blackleg, and alternaria black spot resulting in significant loss of crop productivity and quality. Cysteine-rich antimicrobial peptides isolated from plants have emerged as a potential resource for protection of plants against phytopathogens. Here we report the significance of an antimicrobial peptide, PmAMP1, isolated from western white pine (Pinus monticola), in providing canola with resistance against multiple phytopathogenic fungi. The cDNA encoding PmAMP1 was successfully incorporated into the genome of B. napus, and it's in planta expression conferred greater protection against Alternaria brassicae, Leptosphaeria maculans and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. In vitro experiments with proteins extracted from transgenic canola expressing Pm-AMP1 demonstrated its inhibitory activity by reducing growth of fungal hyphae. In addition, the in vitro synthesized peptide also inhibited the growth of the fungi. These results demonstrate that generating transgenic crops expressing PmAMP1 may be an effective and versatile method to protect susceptible crops against multiple phytopathogens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, 4-10 Agriculture/Forestry Centre, Edmonton, AB T6G 2P5, Canada.
authors.forename: Shiv S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Verma
authors.forename: William R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Yajima
authors.forename: Muhammad H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Rahman
authors.forename: Saleh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: Jun-Jun
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Abul K M
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Ekramoddoullah
authors.forename: Nat N V
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Kav
mesh_terms: D000528:Alternaria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001203:Ascomycota / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D029688:Brassica napus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology*; D002474:Cell-Free System; D003545:Cysteine / Q000378:metabolism*; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D060467:Disease Resistance / Q000187:drug effects*; D005658:Fungi / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000187:drug effects; D018745:Genome, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D015151:Immunoblotting; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D028223:Pinus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000187:drug effects / Q000382:microbiology; D018547:Plant Stems / Q000187:drug effects / Q000382:microbiology; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D021381:Protein Transport; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014170:Transformation, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D003545:Cysteine