title: The attack of the phytopathogens and the trumpet solo: Identification of a novel plant antifungal peptide with distinct fold and disulfide bond pattern.
abstract: Phytopathogens cause economic losses in agribusiness. Plant-derived compounds have been proposed to overcome this problem, including the antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). This paper reports the identification of Ps-AFP1, a novel AMP isolated from the Pisum sativum radicle. Ps-AFP1 was purified and evaluated against phytopathogenic fungi, showing clear effectiveness. In silico analyses were performed, suggesting an unusual fold and disulfide bond pattern. A novel fold and a novel AMP class were here proposed, the αβ-trumpet fold and αβ-trumpet peptides, respectively. The name αβ-trumpet was created due to the peptide's fold, which resembles the musical instrument. The Ps-AFP1 mechanism of action was also proposed. Microscopic analyses revealed that Ps-AFP1 could affect the fungus during the hyphal elongation from spore germination. Furthermore, confocal microscopy performed with Ps-AFP1 labeled with FITC shows that the peptide was localized at high concentration along the fungal cell surface. Due to low cellular disruption rates, it seems that the main target is the fungal cell wall. The binding thermogram and isothermal titration, molecular dynamics and docking analyses were also performed, showing that Ps-AFP1 could bind to chitin producing a stable complex. Data here reported provided novel structural-functional insights into the αβ-trumpet peptide fold.
authors.affiliation: Central Research Facility, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302, India.
authors.forename: Santi M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Mandal
authors.forename: William F
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Porto
authors.forename: Prabuddha
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dey
authors.forename: Mrinal K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Maiti
authors.forename: Ananta K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Ghosh
authors.forename: Octavio L
authors.initials: OL
authors.lastname: Franco
mesh_terms: D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D001230:Aspergillus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000187:drug effects*; D002686:Chitin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D004220:Disulfides / Q000737:chemistry; D016650:Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate; D005670:Fusarium / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D006801:Humans; D025301:Hyphae / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D062105:Molecular Docking Simulation; D056004:Molecular Dynamics Simulation; D018532:Pisum sativum / Q000737:chemistry*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D011485:Protein Binding; D017510:Protein Folding; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D013172:Spores, Fungal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D004220:Disulfides; D010936:Plant Extracts; D010940:Plant Proteins; D002686:Chitin; D016650:Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate
keywords: Antifungal peptides; Lectin-like peptides; Molecular dynamics; Pisum sativum; Plant defense; αβ-Trumpet