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The Botrytis cinerea elicitor protein BcIEB1 interacts with the tobacco PR5‐family protein osmotin and protects the fungus against its antifungal activity
Author(s) -
González Mario,
Brito Nélida,
González Celedonio
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
new phytologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.742
H-Index - 244
eISSN - 1469-8137
pISSN - 0028-646X
DOI - 10.1111/nph.14588
Subject(s) - botrytis cinerea , biology , elicitor , mutant , microbiology and biotechnology , pathogen , pathogenesis related protein , plant defense against herbivory , fungus , saccharomyces cerevisiae , pathogenic fungus , antifungal , biochemistry , yeast , botany , gene , solanaceae
Summary The broad‐range phytopathogenic fungus Botrytis cinerea secretes hundreds of proteins during infection of its plant hosts. One of these proteins, BcIEB1, is abundantly secreted and is able to elicit plant defenses, probably as a pathogen‐associated molecular pattern, although its native function in B. cinerea biology remains unknown. Pull‐down experiments designed to isolate the molecular target of Bc IEB 1 in tobacco resulted in the identification of osmotin, a pathogenesis‐related protein of family 5 that shows antifungal activity. The expression of osmotin in Escherichia coli allowed the verification of the Bc IEB 1–osmotin interaction with pure proteins by pull‐down and far Western blot experiments, as well as the confirmation of the activity of osmotin against B. cinerea . Interestingly, B. cinerea Δ bcieb1 mutants are more susceptible than the wild‐type to osmotin, and the external addition of pure Bc IEB 1 protects the Δ bcieb1 mutants, as well as Saccharomyces cerevisiae , from the antifungal action of osmotin, thus pointing at PR5 inhibition as the primary native function of Bc IEB 1. The question of whether osmotin is also involved in the activation of plant defenses by Bc IEB 1 is also addressed, and the data suggest that osmotin does not participate in the elicitation process.