A novel pathogen- and wound-inducible tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) protein with antifungal activity

A novel pathogen- and wound-inducible antifungal protein of 20 kD was purified from tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) Samsun NN leaves inoculated with tobacco mosaic virus (TMV). The protein, designated CBP20, was purified by chitin-affinity chromatography and gel filtration. In vitro assays demonstrated that CBP20 exhibits antifungal activity toward Trichoderma viride and Fusarium solani by causing lysis of the germ tubes and/or growth inhibition. In addition it was shown that CBP20 acts synergistically with a tobacco class I chitinase against F. solani and with a tobacco class I beta-1,3-glucanase against F. solani and Alternaria radicina. Analysis of the protein and corresponding cDNAs revealed that CBP20 contains an N-terminal chitin-binding domain that is present also in the class I chitinases of tobacco, the putative wound-induced (WIN) proteins of potato, WIN1 and WIN2, and several plant lectins. The C-terminal domain of CBP20 showed high identity with tobacco pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins, PR-4a and PR-4b, tomato PR-P2, and potato WIN1 and WIN2. CBP20 is synthesized as a preproprotein, which is processed into the mature protein by the removal of an N-terminal signal peptide and a C-terminal propeptide, most likely involved in the vacuolar targeting of the protein. The intracellular localization of CBP20 and its induction upon TMV infection and wounding indicate that CBP20 is the first class I PR-4 type protein purified.