title: Onion yellow phytoplasma P38 protein plays a role in adhesion to the hosts.
abstract: Adhesins are microbial surface proteins that mediate the adherence of microbial pathogens to host cell surfaces. In Mollicutes, several adhesins have been reported in mycoplasmas and spiroplasmas. Adhesins P40 of Mycoplasma agalactiae and P89 of Spiroplasma citri contain a conserved amino acid sequence known as the Mollicutes adhesin motif (MAM), whose function in the host cell adhesion remains unclear. Here, we show that phytoplasmas, which are plant-pathogenic mollicutes transmitted by insect vectors, possess an adhesion-containing MAM that was identified in a putative membrane protein, PAM289 (P38), of the 'Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris,' OY strain. P38 homologs and their MAMs were highly conserved in related phytoplasma strains. While P38 protein was expressed in OY-infected insect and plant hosts, binding assays showed that P38 interacts with insect extract, and weakly with plant extract. Interestingly, the interaction of P38 with the insect extract depended on MAM. These results suggest that P38 is a phytoplasma adhesin that interacts with the hosts. In addition, the MAM of adhesins is important for the interaction between P38 protein and hosts.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Plant Pathology, Department of Agricultural and Environmental Biology, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yutaro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Neriya
authors.forename: Kensaku
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Maejima
authors.forename: Takamichi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nijo
authors.forename: Tatsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tomomitsu
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yusa
authors.forename: Misako
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Himeno
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Netsu
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hamamoto
authors.forename: Kenro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Oshima
authors.forename: Shigetou
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Namba
mesh_terms: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D019697:Onions / Q000382:microbiology*; D045582:Phytoplasma / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins
keywords: Mollicutes adhesin motif; adhesin; mollicutes; phytoplasma