Microbial pectinolytic enzymes: A review

This is a brief review of what is known about the role of pectate lyases in plants. The mode of action and three-dimensional structure of microbial pectate lyases is discussed first and then the limited information on the plant proteins is presented. Pectate lyase-like genes have been isolated from a wide range of plant tissues including germinating seeds, pollen, cell cultures, and ripening fruits. The abundance of ESTs for these genes in tomato and the presence of pectate lyase-like transcripts in many other fruits may indicate that these enzymes have a more important role in ripening than previously suspected.

Pectate lyases, cell wall degradation and fruit softening.

Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa, Duch., cv Chandler) is a soft fruit with a short postharvest life, mainly due to a rapid lost of firm texture. To control the strawberry fruit softening, we obtained transgenic plants that incorporate an antisense sequence of a strawberry pectate lyase gene under the control of the 35S promoter. Forty-one independent transgenic lines (Apel lines) were obtained, propagated in the greenhouse for agronomical analysis, and compared with control plants, non-transformed plants, and transgenic lines transformed with the pGUSINT plasmid. Total yield was significantly reduced in 33 of the 41 Apel lines. At the stage of full ripen, no differences in color, size, shape, and weight were observed between Apel and control fruit. However, in most of the Apel lines, ripened fruits were significantly firmer than controls. Six Apel lines were selected for further analysis. In all these lines, the pectate lyase gene expression in ripened fruit was 30% lower than in control, being totally suppressed in three of them. Cell wall material isolated from ripened Apel fruit showed a lower degree of in vitro swelling and a lower amount of ionically bound pectins than control fruit. An analysis of firmness at three different stages of fruit development (green, white, and red) showed that the highest reduction of softening in Apel fruit occurred during the transition from the white to the red stage. The postharvest softening of Apel fruit was also diminished. Our results indicate that pectate lyase gene is an excellent candidate for biotechnological improvement of fruit softening in strawberry.

Manipulation of Strawberry Fruit Softening by Antisense Expression of a Pectate Lyase Gene

The role of protease of Trichoderma harzianum in the biocontrol of Botrytis cinerea was examined. Two isolates of T. harzianum were compared for their ability to produce protease in liquid culture medium and on the surface of bean leaves. The biocontrol agent T. harziaum T39 produced 58 mU/ml of protease and T. harzianum NCIM1185 produced 54 mU/ml on the 5th day of growth in liquid culture medium. On bean leaves, combinations of B. cinerea and T. harzianum isolates were examined for the synthesis of protease. The protease activities were 0.9 and 0.6 mU/ml for T. harzianum T39 and NCIM1185, respectively, and 0.5 mU/ml for B. cinerea alone after 48 h of incubation. In the presence of T. harzianum T39 culture liquid containing protease, a 55% reduction in B. cinerea germination and a 80% reduction in the germ tube length were observed after 17 h of incubation in vitro. When T. harzianum isolates were added to B. cinerea on bean leaves, increased synthesis of protease was observed (1.0 and 1.2 mU/ml for T39 and NCIM1185, respectively). In the presence of T. harzianum NCIM1185 protease, although the rate of germination was reduced, B. cinerea attained 98% germination after 17 h of incubation. The hydrolytic enzymes produced by B. cinerea, endo-polygalacturonase (PG) and exoPG were partially deactivated by protease from the T. harzianum isolates. Carboxymethyl cellulase was deactivated only by protease of NCIM1185. On the surface of bean leaves, the protease (obtained from liquid culture medium of T. harzianum isolates) resulted in 56–100% reduction of disease severity. The culture liquid containing protease synthesized on the surface of bean leaves treated with B. cinerea and with T. harzianum was collected and added to fresh leaves infected by B. cinerea. There was 56–100% and 30–75% reduction of disease severity with liquid droplet collected from the leaves treated with T. harzianum T39 and NCIM1185, respectively. Increased control of disease was obtained by combining the conidia of T. harzianum isolates with protease obtained from culture media. Protease inhibitors, trans-epoxysuccinyl-L-leucylamido-(4-guanidino)butane (E64), antipain hydrochloride, and a mixture of inhibitors, but not pepstatin A, fully or partially nullified the biocontrol effect of T39. T39 was found to be a poor producer of chitinase and β-1,3-glucanase in vitro. These enzymes were not detected on leaves treated with T39. Involvement of protease in biocontrol of B. cinerea is suggested.

The role of trichoderma harzianum protease in the biocontrol of botrytis cinerea

The nonfastidious, xylem-inhabiting bacteria from a selection of grape cultivars in Nova Scotia have been examined. The size of this population varied with the method of extraction: 2.65 × 102 to 3...

Endophytic bacteria in grapevine

Publisher Summary The characterization and purification of a pectic enzyme is often complicated by the presence of other pectic enzymes produced by the source microorganism. This chapter describes three assay procedures that address this problem. Pectic enzymes from Erwinia spp. is used as examples in the chapter. The assays are readily adapted to the analysis of pectic enzyme complexes of other organisms and can be used with crude preparations. Results from plant tissue extracts should be interpreted cautiously, however, because of the prevalence of pectic enzyme inhibitors. The activity stains in the first procedure enable rapid approximation of the number and type of pectic enzymes in the sample and can guide purification strategies, particularly when used in conjunction with titration curves. The second and third procedures permit quantitative assay of hydrolytic and β-eliminative pectic enzymes, respectively. The action patterns of purified pectic enzymes are determined by viscometric and reaction product analyses; oligogalacturonides are resolved by paper chromatography or thin-layer chromatography and detected with bromphenol blue or thiobarbituric acid spray reagent.

Mark S. Mount

Papers

Assay methods for pectic enzymes