Biomedical subjects

M G Hahn

Publications and source records attributed to M G Hahn.

27 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1991

Structure-activity relationships of oligo-beta-glucoside elicitors of phytoalexin accumulation in soybean.

The abilities of a family of chemically synthesized oligo-beta-glucosides, ranging in size from hexamer to decamer, to induce phytoalexin accumulation in soybean cotyledons were investigated to determine which structural elements of the oligoglucosides are important for their biological activity. The results of the biological assays established that the following structural motif is necessary for the oligo-beta-glucosides to have high elicitor activity: [formula; see text] The branched trisaccharide at the nonreducing end of the oligoglucosides was found to be essential for maximum elicitor activity. Substitution of either the nonreducing terminal backbone glucosyl residue or the side-chain glucosyl residue closest to the nonreducing end with glucosaminyl or N-acetylglucosaminyl residues reduced the elicitor activity of the oligoglucosides between 10-fold and 10,000-fold. Elicitor activity was also reduced 1000-fold if the two side-chain glucosyl residues were attached to adjacent backbone glucosyl residues rather than to glucosyl residues separated by an unbranched residue. In contrast, modifications of the reducing terminal glucosyl residue of an elicitor-active hepta-beta-glucoside by conjugation with tyramine and subsequent iodination had no significant effect on the elicitor activity of the hepta-beta-glucoside. These results demonstrate that oligo-beta-glucosides must have a specific structure to trigger the signal transduction pathway, which ultimately leads to the de novo synthesis of phytoalexins in soybean.

Carbohydrate Conformation↗

PubMed1991

A specific, high-affinity binding site for the hepta-beta-glucoside elicitor exists in soybean membranes.

The presence of a specific binding site for a hepta-beta-glucoside elicitor of phytoalexin accumulation has been demonstrated in soybean microsomal membranes. A tyramine conjugate of the elicitor-active hepta-beta-glucoside was prepared and radiolabeled with 125I. The labeled hepta-beta-glucoside-tyramine conjugate was used as a ligand in binding assays with a total membrane fraction prepared from soybean roots. Binding of the radiolabeled hepta-beta-glucoside elicitor was saturable, reversible, and with an affinity (apparent Kd = 7.5 x 10(-10) M) comparable with the concentration of hepta-beta-glucoside required for biological activity. A single class of hepta-beta-glucoside binding sites was found. The binding site was inactivated by proteolysis and by heat treatment, suggesting that the binding site is a protein or glycoprotein. Competitive inhibition of binding of the radiolabeled hepta-beta-glucoside elicitor by a number of structurally related oligoglucosides demonstrated a direct correlation between the binding affinities and the elicitor activities of these oligoglucosides. Thus, the hepta-beta-glucoside-binding protein fulfills criteria expected of a bona fide receptor for the elicitor-active oligosaccharin.

Binding Sites↗

PubMed1989

Host-Pathogen Interactions : XXXIII. A Plant Protein Converts a Fungal Pathogenesis Factor into an Elicitor of Plant Defense Responses.

This paper describes the effect of a plant-derived polygalacturonase-inhibiting protein (PGIP) on the activity of endopolygalacturonases isolated from fungi. PGIP's effect on endopolygalacturonases is to enhance the production of oligogalacturonides that are active as elicitors of phytoalexin (antibiotic) accumulation and other defense reactions in plants. Only oligogalacturonides with a degree of polymerization higher than nine are able to elicit phytoalexin synthesis in soybean cotyledons. In the absence of PGIP, a 1-minute exposure of polygalacturonic acid to endopolygalacturonase resulted in the production of elicitor-active oligogalacturonides. However, the enzyme depolymerized essentially all of the polygalacturonic acid substrate to elicitor-inactive oligogalacturonides within 15 minutes. When the digestion of polygalacturonic acid was carried out with the same amount of enzyme but in the presence of excess PGIP, the rate of production of elicitor-active oligogalacturonides was dramatically altered. The amount of elicitor-active oligogalacturonide steadily increased for 24 hours. It was only after about 48 hours that the enzyme converted the polygalacturonic acid into short, elicitor-inactive oligomers. PGIP is a specific, reversible, saturable, high-affinity receptor for endopolygalacturonase. Formation of the PGIP-endopolygalacturonase complex results in increased concentrations of oligogalacturonides that activate plant defense responses. The interaction of the plant-derived PGIP with fungal endopolygalacturonases may be a mechanism by which plants convert endopolygalacturonase, a factor important for the virulence of pathogens, into a factor that elicits plant defense mechanisms.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1985

Quantitative Localization of the Phytoalexin Glyceollin I in Relation to Fungal Hyphae in Soybean Roots Infected with Phytophthora megasperma f. sp. glycinea.

A radioimmunoassay specific for glyceollin I was used to quantitate this phytoalexin in roots of soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr. cv Harosoy 63) after infection with zoospores of either race 1 (incompatible) or race 3 (compatible) of Phytophthora megasperma Drechs. f. sp. glycinea Kuan and Erwin. The sensitivity of the radioimmunoassay and an inmmunofluorescent stain for hyphae permitted quantitation of phytoalexin and localization of the fungus in alternate serial cryotome sections from the same root. The incompatible interaction was characterized by extensive fungal colonization of the root cortex which was limited to the immediate vicinity of the inoculation site. Glyceollin I was first detected in extracts of whole roots 2 hours after infection, and phytoalexin content rose rapidly thereafter. Significant concentrations of glyceollin I were present at the infection site in cross-sections (42 micrometers thick) of such roots by 5 hours, and exceeded 0.6 micromoles per milliliter (EC(90)in vitro for glyceollin I) by 8 hours after infection. Longitudinal sectioning (14 micrometers thick) showed that glyceollin I accumulated particularly in the epidermal cell layers, but also was present in the root cortex at inhibitory concentrations. No hyphae were observed in advance of detectable levels of the phytoalexin and, in most roots, glyceollin I concentrations dropped sharply at the leading edge of the infection. In contrast, the compatible interaction was characterized by extensive unchecked fungal colonization of the root stele, with lesser growth in the rest of the root. Only small amounts of glyceollin I were detected in whole root extracts during the first 14 hours after infection. Measurable amounts of glyceollin I were detected only in occasional cross-sections of such roots 11 and 14 hours after infection. The phytoalexin was present at inhibitory concentrations in the epidermal cell layers, but the inhibitory zone did not extend appreciably into the cortex. Altogether, these data support the hypothesis that the accumulation of glyceollin I is an important early response of soybean roots to infection by P. megasperma, but may not be solely responsible for inhibition of fungal growth in the resistant response.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1983

Development of a radioimmunoassay for the soybean phytoalexin glyceollin I.

A radioimmunoassay for glyceollin I, the major phytoalexin produced by soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.), has been developed. Antibodies were raised in rabbits against a glyceollin I-bovine serum albumin conjugate. The antisera were used to establish a radioimmunoassay for glyceollin I using [(125)I]glyceollin I as the tracer. A logit plot of a standard concentration series yielded a straight line in the range of 1 to 100 picomoles (0.34-34 nanograms) of glyceollin I. The structurally related pterocarpan phytoalexins, glyceollins II and III, glyceollidin II and glycinol, which also accumulate in infected soybean tissue, show a low cross-reactivity in the radioimmunoassay (0.5-5% at 50% displacement of the tracer). Two related isoflavones present constitutively in soybean tissue, daidzein and genistein, have cross-reactivities of less than 0.84% and 1.1%, respectively. The radioimmunoassay permitted the quantitative determination of glyceollin I in 15-micrometer microtome sections of soybean hypocotyl tissue infected with zoospores of Phytophthora megasperma f. sp. glycinea.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1981

Host-Pathogen Interactions : XVIII. ISOLATION AND BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY OF GLYCINOL, A PTEROCARPAN PHYTOALEXIN SYNTHESIZED BY SOYBEANS.

A previously unrecognized phytoalexin has been isolated from soybean cotyledons that had been infected with bacteria or exposed to ultraviolet light. The phytoalexin has been purified to homogeneity by silica gel flash chromatography and high pressure liquid chromatography. It has been structurally characterized by its ultraviolet, circular dichroism and nuclear magnetic resonance spectra, polarimetry, and its mass spectrometric fragmentation pattern. The phytoalexin, (6aS,11aS)-3,6a,9-trihydroxypterocarpan, is a compound that had previously been detected in CuCl(2)-treated soybeans and is structurally related to the previously identified soybean phytoalexins glycerollins I to IV. It is proposed that the trivial name glycinol be used for this phytoalexin. Glycinol is a broad spectrum antibiotic capable of prolonging the lag phase of growth of all six bacteria examined, namely Erwinia carotovora, Pseudomonas glycinea (races 1 and 3), Escherichia coli, Xanthomonas phaseoli, and Bacillus subtilis. Glycinol also inhibits the growth of the fungi Phytophthora megasperma f. sp. glycinea (race 1), Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Cladosporium cucumerinum. Glycinol is a static agent against the six bacterial species listed above and against S. cerevisiae, and appears to be static against the other fungi examined. As with other phytoalexins, there is no correlation between the pathogenicity of a microorganism and its sensitivity to glycinol.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1981

Host-Pathogen Interactions : XIX. THE ENDOGENOUS ELICITOR, A FRAGMENT OF A PLANT CELL WALL POLYSACCHARIDE THAT ELICITS PHYTOALEXIN ACCUMULATION IN SOYBEANS.

An elicitor of phytoalexin accumulation (endogenous elicitor) is solubilized from purified cell walls of soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr., cv. Wayne) by extracting the walls with hot water or by subjecting the walls to partial acid hydrolysis. The endogenous elicitor obtained from soybean cell walls binds to an anion exchange resin. The elicitor-active material released from the resin contains oligosaccharides rich in galacturonic acid; small amounts of rhamnose and xylose are also present. The preponderance of galacturonic acid in the elicitor-active fragments suggests that the elicitor is, in fact, a fragment of a pectic polysaccharide. This possibility is supported by the observation that treatment of the wall fragments with a highly purified endopolygalacturonase destroys their ability to elicit phytoalexin accumulation. This observation, together with other evidence presented in this paper, suggests that galacturonic acid is an essential constituent of the elicitor-active wall fragments. Endogenous elicitors were also solubilized by partial hydrolysis from cell walls of suspension-cultured tobacco, sycamore, and wheat cells.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1978

Host-Pathogen Interactions: XIV. Isolation and Partial Characterization of an Elicitor from Yeast Extract.

An elicitor of glyceollin accumulation in soybeans (Glycine max L.) has been isolated from a commercially available extract of brewers' yeast. Yeast is not a known pathogen of plants. The elicitor was isolated by precipitation in 80% (v/v) ethanol followed by column chromatography on DEAE-cellulose, sulfopropyl-Sephadex, and concanavalin A-Sepharose. Compositional and structural analysis showed the elicitor to be a glucan containing terminal, 3-, 6-, and 3,6-linked glucosyl residues. The yeast elicitor stimulates the accumulation of glyceollin in the cotyledons and hypocotyls of soybeans when as little as 15 nanograms or 100 nanograms of the elicitor is applied to the respective tissues. The yeast elicitor is very similar in both structure and absolute elicitor activity to an elicitor isolated from the mycelial walls of Phytophthora megasperma var. sojae, a pathogen of soybeans. These and other results of this laboratory suggest that plants are able to respond to the presence of a wide range of fungi by recognizing, as foreign to the plant, structural polysaccharides of the mycelial walls of the fungi.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1975

Evidence for an active dimer of Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase.

BETA-Galactosidase (EC 3.2.1.23), prepared from strains ML 308 and K12 3300 of Escherichia coli, dissociated into an inactive monomer in the presence of Ag+. When such a monomer preparation is treated with excess of thiol an enzymically active dimer is formed in addition to an active tetramer. It is suggested that Ag+ may be of value in studies on other multimeric proteins as a mild dissociating agent.

Dithiothreitol↗