title: Characterization and heterologous expression of a PR-1 protein from traps of the carnivorous plant Nepenthes mirabilis.
abstract: Carnivorous plants capture and digest prey to obtain additional nutrients. Therefore, different trapping mechanisms were developed in different species. Plants of the genus Nepenthes possess pitfall-traps filled with a digestive fluid, which is secreted by the plants themselves. This pitcher fluid is composed of various enzymes to digest the captured prey. Besides hydrolytic enzymes, defense-related proteins have been identified in the fluid. The present study describes the identification and heterologous expression of a pathogenesis-related protein, NmPR-1, from pitchers of Nepenthes mirabilis with features that are unusual for PR-1 proteins. In particular, it was proven to be highly glycosylated and, furthermore, it exhibited antibacterial instead of antifungal activities. These properties are probably due to the specific environment of the pitcher fluid.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, 07745 Jena, Germany. Electronic address: fbuch@ice.mpg.de.
authors.forename: Franziska
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Buch
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, 07745 Jena, Germany. Electronic address: ypauchet@ice.mpg.de.
authors.forename: Yannick
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pauchet
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, 07745 Jena, Germany. Electronic address: matthias.rott@hotmail.de.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rott
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, 07745 Jena, Germany. Electronic address: amithoefer@ice.mpg.de.
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mithöfer
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D060435:Carnivory; D015870:Gene Expression; D006031:Glycosylation; D019684:Magnoliopsida / Q000235:genetics*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D061987:Sf9 Cells; D018411:Spodoptera
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D010940:Plant Proteins
keywords: Antibacterial activity; Carnivorous plants; Glycosylation; Nepenthes; PR-1 protein; Pathogenesis-related proteins; Pitcher fluid; Sf9 insect cell expression