Identification of a Receptor Protein in Cotton Fibers for the Herbicide 2,6-Dichlorobenzonitrile

The herbicide 2,6-dichlorobenzonitrile (DCB) is an effective and apparently specific inhibitor of cellulose synthesis in higher plants. We have synthesized a photoreactive analog of DCB (2,6-dichlorophenylazide [DCPA]) for use as an affinity-labeling probe to identify the DCB receptor in plants. This analog retains herbicide activity and inhibits cellulose synthesis in cotton fibers and tobacco cells in a manner similar to DCB. When cotton fiber extracts are incubated with [(3)H]DCPA and exposed to ultraviolet light, an 18 kilodalton polypeptide is specifically labeled. About 90% of this polypeptide is found in the 100,000g supernatant, the remainder being membrane-associated. Gel filtration and nondenaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of this polypeptide indicate that it is an acidic protein which has a similar size in its native or denatured state. The amount of 18 kilodalton polypeptide detectable by [(3)H]DCPA-labeling increases substantially at the onset of secondary wall cellulose synthesis in the fibers. A similar polypeptide, but of lower molecular weight (12,000), has been detected upon labeling of extracts from tomato or from the cellulosic alga Chara corallina. The specificity of labeling of the 18 kilodalton cotton fiber polypeptide, coupled with its pattern of developmental regulation, implicate a role for this protein in cellulose biosynthesis. Being, at most, only loosely associated with membranes, it is unlikely to be the catalytic polypeptide of the cellulose synthase, and we suggest instead that the DCB receptor may function as a regulatory protein for beta-glucan synthesis in plants.