Lectin of Sclerotium rolfsii: its purification and possible function in fungal‐fungal interaction

R. Barak, I. Chet*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

24 Scopus citations

Abstract

The soil‐borne plant pathogenic fungus, Sclerotium rolfsii, produces a lectin which is strongly associated with the fungal β‐1,3‐glucan. The chitin synthetase inhibitors, polyoxin D and nikkomycin decrease the production of β‐1,3‐glucan by the fungus but increase the titre of the excreted lectin. On the other hand, the competitive inhibitor of glucose, 2‐deoxyglucose, decreases the production of both β‐1,3‐glucan and the lectin. The inhibition of glucan synthesis by polyoxin D was used for separation of the lectin from the glucan. For purification, the fungus was grown in synthetic medium supplemented with 5 × 10−6 mol/l polyoxin D and the crude lectin was puried on a column of Sephadex G‐75. SDS‐PAGE of the purified lectin showed two protein bands with the molecular weights of 55 000 and 60 000. The location of the lectin on S. rolfsii hyphae and its adsorption to conidia of Tri‐choderma were determined by indirect imrnunofluorescence, with antiserum raised against the purified lectin. The possible role of this lectin in S. rolfsii‐Trichoderma cell interaction is discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)101-112
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of Applied Bacteriology
Volume69
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 1990

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