Isolation of orthologues of the cp gene and characterization of the protein PoP from Ceratocystis populicola

Abstract

Cerato-platanin (CP) is a protein of 120 amino acids, produced by the Ascomycete Ceratocystis platani, the agent of plane canker stain. CP is the founder member of the CP family (pfam07249), a group of proteins involved in the interaction between the producing fungi (pathogenic to plants or humans) and the respective hosts. CP is located in the cell walls of the C. platani mycelium, is able to self-aggregate, and is early released in vitro. Leaves of Platanus acerifolia react to CP in a resistance-like manner, activating various defence-related events including the over-expression of many defence-related genes and inhibition of the C. platani growth. The coding cp gene sequence has been cloned in Pichia pastoris, and the 3D solution structure of recombinant CP is now available. Recently our research group has isolated and sequenced the hortologues of the cp gene in various species and clones of the genus Ceratocystis (C. populicola, C. cacaofunesta, C. variospora, C. fimbriata clones from Coffea arabica, Mangifera indica, Fagus sp., Crotolaria juncea, and Ipomea batatas). The protein PoP from C. populicola has been purified and has been characterized structurally and functionally