Antifungal activity of storage 2S albumins from seeds of the invasive weed dandelion Taraxacum officinale Wigg

Protein Pept Lett. 2010 Apr;17(4):522-9. doi: 10.2174/092986610790963591.

Abstract

In this work, we isolated and characterized novel antifungal proteins from seeds of dandelion (Taraxacum officinale Wigg.). We showed that they are represented by five isoforms, each consisting of two disulphide-bonded large and small subunits. One of them, To-A1 was studied in detail, including N-terminal amino acid sequencing of both subunits, and shown to display sequence homology with the sunflower 2S albumin. Using different assays we demonstrated that dandelion 2S albumins possess inhibitory activity against phytopathogenic fungi and the oomycete Phytophtora infestans at micromolar concentrations with various isoforms differing in their antifungal activity. Thus, 2S albumins of dandelion seeds represent a novel example of storage proteins with defense functions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • 2S Albumins, Plant / isolation & purification
  • 2S Albumins, Plant / pharmacology*
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Antifungal Agents / isolation & purification
  • Antifungal Agents / pharmacology*
  • Chromatography, Gel
  • Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel
  • Fungi / drug effects
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Seeds / chemistry*
  • Sequence Alignment
  • Spores, Fungal / drug effects
  • Spores, Fungal / growth & development
  • Taraxacum / chemistry*

Substances

  • 2S Albumins, Plant
  • Antifungal Agents