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The fungal elicitor cryptogein is a sterol carrier protein
Author(s) -
Mikes Vladimir,
Milat Marie-Louise,
Ponchet Michel,
Ricci Pierre,
Blein Jean-Pierre
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/s0014-5793(97)01193-9
Subject(s) - sterol , elicitor , biochemistry , biology , extracellular , chemistry , enzyme , cholesterol
Cryptogein is a protein secreted by the phytopathogenic pseudo‐fungus, Phytophthora cryptogea . It is a basic 10 kDa hydrophilic protein having a hydrophobic pocket and three disulfide bridges. These common features with sterol carrier proteins led us to investigate its possible sterol transfer activity using the fluorescent sterol, dehydroergosterol. The results show that cryptogein has one binding site with strong affinity for dehydroergosterol. Moreover, this protein catalyzes the transfer of sterols between phospholipidic artificial membranes. This is the first evidence for the existence of an extracellular sterol carrier protein and for a molecular activity of cryptogein. This property should contribute to an understanding of the role of cryptogein in plant‐microorganism interactions.