Antifungal-protein production in maize (Zea mays) suspension cultures

• Published in: Biotechnology and applied biochemistry 2009-04, Vol.52 (4), p.273-281
• Main Authors: Perri, Fabio, Della Penna, Serena, Rufini, Francesca, Patamia, Maria, Bonito, Mariantonietta, Angiolella, Letizia, Vitali, Alberto
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antifungal Agents - metabolism; Antifungal Agents - pharmacology; Biological and medical sciences; Biotechnology; Candida albicans; Candida albicans - drug effects; Cell Culture Techniques - methods; Cell Survival - drug effects; Cells, Cultured; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; maize (Zea mays) antifungal activity; matrix-assisted laser-desorption ionization-time-of-flight mass spectroscopy (MALDI-TOF MS); pathogenesis-related protein (PRP); plant cell culture; Plant Proteins - biosynthesis; Plant Proteins - isolation & purification; Plant Proteins - pharmacology; thaumatin-like protein (TLP); Zea mays; Zea mays - metabolism; zeamatin (P33679)
• ISSN: 0885-4513; 1470-8744
• DOI: 10.1042/BA20080060

The growing emergency due to the phenomenon of drug resistance to micro‐organisms has pushed forward the search for new potential drug alternatives to those already in use. Plants represent a suitable source of new antifungal molecules, as they produce a series of defensive proteins. Among them are the PRPs (pathogenesis‐related proteins), shown to be effective in vitro against human pathogens. An optimized and established cell‐suspension culture of maize (Zea mays) was shown to constitutively secrete in the medium a series of PRPs comprising the antifungal protein zeamatin (P33679) with a final yield of approx. 3 mg/litre. The in‐vitro‐produced zeamatin possessed antifungal activity towards a clinical strain of the human pathogenic yeast Candida albicans, an activity comparable with the one reported for the same protein extracted from maize seeds. Along with zeamatin, other PRPs were expressed: a 9 kDa lipid‐transfer protein, a 26 kDa xylanase inhibitor and a new antifungal protein, PR‐5. A fast, two‐step chromatographic procedure was set up allowing the complete purification of the proteins considered, making this cell line a valuable system for the production of potential antifungal agents in a reliable and easy way.