This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Thevissen, K.
Right arrow Articles by Broekaert, W. F.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Thevissen, K.
Right arrow Articles by Broekaert, W. F.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Thevissen, K.
Right arrow Articles by Broekaert, W. F.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 1999, p. 5451-5458, Vol. 65, No. 12
0099-2240/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Permeabilization of Fungal Membranes by Plant Defensins Inhibits Fungal Growth

Karin Thevissen, Franky R. G. Terras,dagger and Willem F. Broekaert*

F. A. Janssens Laboratory of Genetics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, B-3001 Heverlee-Leuven, Belgium

Received 4 March 1999/Accepted 15 September 1999

We used an assay based on the uptake of SYTOX Green, an organic compound that fluoresces upon interaction with nucleic acids and penetrates cells with compromised plasma membranes, to investigate membrane permeabilization in fungi. Membrane permeabilization induced by plant defensins in Neurospora crassa was biphasic, depending on the plant defensin dose. At high defensin levels (10 to 40 µM), strong permeabilization was detected that could be strongly suppressed by cations in the medium. This permeabilization appears to rely on direct peptide-phospholipid interactions. At lower defensin levels (0.1 to 1 µM), a weaker, but more cation-resistant, permeabilization occurred at concentrations that correlated with the inhibition of fungal growth. Rs-AFP2(Y38G), an inactive variant of the plant defensin Rs-AFP2 from Raphanus sativus, failed to induce cation-resistant permeabilization in N. crassa. Dm-AMP1, a plant defensin from Dahlia merckii, induced cation-resistant membrane permeabilization in yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) which correlated with its antifungal activity. However, Dm-AMP1 could not induce cation-resistant permeabilization in the Dm-AMP1-resistant S. cerevisiae mutant DM1, which has a drastically reduced capacity for binding Dm-AMP1. We think that cation-resistant permeabilization is binding site mediated and linked to the primary cause of fungal growth inhibition induced by plant defensins.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: F. A. Janssens Laboratory of Genetics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, K. Mercierlaan 92, B-3001 Heverlee-Leuven, Belgium. Phone: 32-16-321631. Fax: 32-16-321966. E-mail: willem.broekaert{at}agr.kuleuven.ac.be.

dagger Present address: CropDesign, B-9052 Ghent, Belgium.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 1999, p. 5451-5458, Vol. 65, No. 12
0099-2240/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Krishnakumari, V., Rangaraj, N., Nagaraj, R. (2009). Antifungal Activities of Human Beta-Defensins HBD-1 to HBD-3 and Their C-Terminal Analogs Phd1 to Phd3. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 53: 256-260 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Gelhaus, C., Jacobs, T., Andra, J., Leippe, M. (2008). The Antimicrobial Peptide NK-2, the Core Region of Mammalian NK-Lysin, Kills Intraerythrocytic Plasmodium falciparum. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 52: 1713-1720 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Hagen, S., Marx, F., Ram, A. F., Meyer, V. (2007). The Antifungal Protein AFP from Aspergillus giganteus Inhibits Chitin Synthesis in Sensitive Fungi. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 2128-2134 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Zakrzewska, A., Boorsma, A., Delneri, D., Brul, S., Oliver, S. G., Klis, F. M. (2007). Cellular Processes and Pathways That Protect Saccharomyces cerevisiae Cells against the Plasma Membrane-Perturbing Compound Chitosan. Eukaryot Cell 6: 600-608 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Lockshon, D., Surface, L. E., Kerr, E. O., Kaeberlein, M., Kennedy, B. K. (2007). The Sensitivity of Yeast Mutants to Oleic Acid Implicates the Peroxisome and Other Processes in Membrane Function. Genetics 175: 77-91 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Munoz, A., Lopez-Garcia, B., Marcos, J. F. (2006). Studies on the Mode of Action of the Antifungal Hexapeptide PAF26. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 50: 3847-3855 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Makovitzki, A., Avrahami, D., Shai, Y. (2006). Ultrashort antibacterial and antifungal lipopeptides. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 103: 15997-16002 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Rosenfeld, Y., Barra, D., Simmaco, M., Shai, Y., Mangoni, M. L. (2006). A Synergism between Temporins toward Gram-negative Bacteria Overcomes Resistance Imposed by the Lipopolysaccharide Protective Layer. J. Biol. Chem. 281: 28565-28574 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Mendieta, J. R., Pagano, M. R., Munoz, F. F., Daleo, G. R., Guevara, M. G. (2006). Antimicrobial activity of potato aspartic proteases (StAPs) involves membrane permeabilization. Microbiology 152: 2039-2047 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Zakrzewska, A., Boorsma, A., Brul, S., Hellingwerf, K. J., Klis, F. M. (2005). Transcriptional Response of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to the Plasma Membrane-Perturbing Compound Chitosan. Eukaryot Cell 4: 703-715 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Park, C., Bennion, B., Francois, I. E. J. A., Ferket, K. K. A., Cammue, B. P. A., Thevissen, K., Levery, S. B. (2005). Neutral glycolipids of the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa: altered expression in plant defensin-resistant mutants. J. Lipid Res. 46: 759-768 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Mangoni, M. L., Saugar, J. M., Dellisanti, M., Barra, D., Simmaco, M., Rivas, L. (2005). Temporins, Small Antimicrobial Peptides with Leishmanicidal Activity. J. Biol. Chem. 280: 984-990 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Bulmer, M. S., Crozier, R. H. (2004). Duplication and Diversifying Selection Among Termite Antifungal Peptides. Mol Biol Evol 21: 2256-2264 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Spelbrink, R. G., Dilmac, N., Allen, A., Smith, T. J., Shah, D. M., Hockerman, G. H. (2004). Differential Antifungal and Calcium Channel-Blocking Activity among Structurally Related Plant Defensins. Plant Physiol. 135: 2055-2067 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Yenugu, S., Hamil, K. G., Radhakrishnan, Y., French, F. S., Hall, S. H. (2004). The Androgen-Regulated Epididymal Sperm-Binding Protein, Human {beta}-Defensin 118 (DEFB118) (Formerly ESC42), Is an Antimicrobial {beta}-Defensin. Endocrinology 145: 3165-3173 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Luque-Ortega, J. R., Martinez, S., Saugar, J. M., Izquierdo, L. R., Abad, T., Luis, J. G., Pinero, J., Valladares, B., Rivas, L. (2004). Fungus-Elicited Metabolites from Plants as an Enriched Source for New Leishmanicidal Agents: Antifungal Phenyl-Phenalenone Phytoalexins from the Banana Plant (Musa acuminata) Target Mitochondria of Leishmania donovani Promastigotes. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 48: 1534-1540 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Thevissen, K., Warnecke, D. C., Francois, I. E. J. A., Leipelt, M., Heinz, E., Ott, C., Zahringer, U., Thomma, B. P. H. J., Ferket, K. K. A., Cammue, B. P. A. (2004). Defensins from Insects and Plants Interact with Fungal Glucosylceramides. J. Biol. Chem. 279: 3900-3905 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Oberparleiter, C., Kaiserer, L., Haas, H., Ladurner, P., Andratsch, M., Marx, F. (2003). Active Internalization of the Penicillium chrysogenum Antifungal Protein PAF in Sensitive Aspergilli. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 47: 3598-3601 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Veronese, P., Ruiz, M. T., Coca, M. A., Hernandez-Lopez, A., Lee, H., Ibeas, J. I., Damsz, B., Pardo, J. M., Hasegawa, P. M., Bressan, R. A., Narasimhan, M. L. (2003). In Defense against Pathogens. Both Plant Sentinels and Foot Soldiers Need to Know the Enemy. Plant Physiol. 131: 1580-1590 [Full Text]  
  • Theis, T., Wedde, M., Meyer, V., Stahl, U. (2003). The Antifungal Protein from Aspergillus giganteus Causes Membrane Permeabilization. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 47: 588-593 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Chicharro, C., Granata, C., Lozano, R., Andreu, D., Rivas, L. (2001). N-Terminal Fatty Acid Substitution Increases the Leishmanicidal Activity of CA(1-7)M(2-9), a Cecropin-Melittin Hybrid Peptide. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 45: 2441-2449 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Selitrennikoff, C. P. (2001). Antifungal Proteins. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 67: 2883-2894 [Full Text]  
  • Thevissen, K., Cammue, B. P. A., Lemaire, K., Winderickx, J., Dickson, R. C., Lester, R. L., Ferket, K. K. A., Van Even, F., Parret, A. H. A., Broekaert, W. F. (2000). A gene encoding a sphingolipid biosynthesis enzyme determines the sensitivity of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to an antifungal plant defensin from dahlia (Dahlia merckii). Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 10.1073/pnas.160077797v1 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Thevissen, K., Cammue, B. P. A., Lemaire, K., Winderickx, J., Dickson, R. C., Lester, R. L., Ferket, K. K. A., Van Even, F., Parret, A. H. A., Broekaert, W. F. (2000). A gene encoding a sphingolipid biosynthesis enzyme determines the sensitivity of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to an antifungal plant defensin from dahlia (Dahlia merckii). Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97: 9531-9536 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»