Novel Family of Lectins Evolutionarily Related to Class V Chitinases: An Example of Neofunctionalization in Legumes

A lectin has been identified in black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) bark that shares approximately 50% sequence identity with plant class V chitinases but is essentially devoid of chitinase activity. Specificity studies indicated that the black locust chitinase-related agglutinin (RobpsCRA) preferen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Plant physiology (Bethesda) 2007-06, Vol.144 (2), p.662-672
Main Authors: Van Damme, Els J.M, Culerrier, Raphaël, Barre, Annick, Alvarez, Richard, Rougé, Pierre, Peumans, Willy J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agglutinins
Amino Acid Sequence
Amino acids
Bark
Biological and medical sciences
Biological Evolution
Carbohydrate Metabolism
Chitin
Chitinases - chemistry
Chitinases - metabolism
Cloning, Molecular
Evolution
Focus Issue on Legume Biology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Glycine max
Lectins
Legumes
Lotus japonicus
Medicago truncatula
Models, Molecular
Molecular Sequence Data
Multigene Family
Nicotiana - chemistry
Nicotiana - enzymology
Parasitism and symbiosis
Plant Bark - chemistry
Plant Bark - metabolism
Plant Lectins - chemistry
Plant Lectins - genetics
Plant Lectins - metabolism
Plant physiology and development
Plants
Polysaccharides
Proteins
Robinia - chemistry
Robinia - genetics
Robinia - metabolism
Robinia pseudoacacia
Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
Symbiosis
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Summary:A lectin has been identified in black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) bark that shares approximately 50% sequence identity with plant class V chitinases but is essentially devoid of chitinase activity. Specificity studies indicated that the black locust chitinase-related agglutinin (RobpsCRA) preferentially binds to high-mannose N-glycans comprising the proximal pentasaccharide core structure. Closely related orthologs of RobpsCRA could be identified in the legumes Glycine max, Medicago truncatula, and Lotus japonicus but in no other plant species, suggesting that this novel lectin family most probably evolved in an ancient legume species or possibly an earlier ancestor. This identification of RobpsCRA not only illustrates neofunctionalization in plants, but also provides firm evidence that plants are capable of developing a sugar-binding domain from an existing structural scaffold with a different activity and accordingly sheds new light on the molecular evolution of plant lectins.
ISSN:0032-0889
1532-2548
1532-2548
DOI:10.1104/pp.106.087981