Identification and Characterization of an Antifungal Protein, Afafpr9, Produced by Marine-Derived Aspergillus Fumigatus R9 Qi Rao†, Wenbin Guo†, and Xinhua Chen*
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J. Microbiol. Biotechnol. (2015), 25(5), 620–628 http://dx.doi.org/10.4014/jmb.1409.09071 Research Article Review jmb Identification and Characterization of an Antifungal Protein, AfAFPR9, Produced by Marine-Derived Aspergillus fumigatus R9 Qi Rao†, Wenbin Guo†, and Xinhua Chen* Key Laboratory of Marine Biogenetic Resources, Third Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Xiamen 361005, P.R. China Received: September 23, 2014 Revised: October 29, 2014 A fungal strain, R9, was isolated from the South Atlantic sediment sample and identified as Accepted: November 13, 2014 Aspergillus fumigatus. An antifungal protein, AfAFPR9, was purified from the culture supernatant of Aspergillus fumigatus R9. AfAFPR9 was identified to be restrictocin, which is a member of the ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs), by MALDI-TOF-TOF-MS. AfAFPR9 First published online displayed antifungal activity against plant pathogenic Fusarium oxysporum, Alternaria longipes, November 14, 2014 Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Paecilomyces variotii, and Trichoderma viride at minimum *Corresponding author inhibitory concentrations of 0.6, 0.6, 1.2, 1.2, and 2.4 µg/disc, respectively. Moreover, AfAFPR9 Phone: +86-592-2195297; exhibited a certain extent of thermostability, and metal ion and denaturant tolerance. The Fax: +86-592-2085376; iodoacetamide assay showed that the disulfide bridge in AfAFP was indispensable for its E-mail: [email protected] R9 antifungal action. The cDNA encoding for AfAFPR9 was cloned from A. fumigatus R9 by RT- † These authors contributed PCR and heterologously expressed in E. coli. The recombinant AfAFP protein exhibited equally to this work. R9 obvious antifungal activity against C. gloeosporioides, T. viride, and A. longipes. These results reveal the antifungal properties of a RIP member (AfAFPR9) from marine-derived Aspergillus fumigatus and indicated its potential application in controlling plant pathogenic fungi. pISSN 1017-7825, eISSN 1738-8872 Keywords: South Atlantic, antifungal activity, plant pathogenic fungi, ribosome-inactivating Copyright© 2015 by The Korean Society for Microbiology protein and Biotechnology Introduction fungus to potently produce an antifungal peptide (AFP) [18, 31]. Subsequently, a number of different antifungal proteins There are a vast number and diversity of microorganisms have been derived from ascomycetes, such as PAF from living in the oceans. The interaction between the marine Penicillium chrysogenum [6, 15, 19, 25], NAF from Penicillium microorganisms and their unique environments causes nalgiovense [7], AcAFP from Aspergillus clavatus [27, 28], the development of special metabolic pathways in these AnAFP from Aspergillus niger [9], NFAP from Neosartorya microorganisms. The antifungal substances from marine fisheri [5, 8], and Pc-Actin from Penicillium chrysogenum microorganisms are becoming an important part of discovering A096 [3]. According to their structure, molecular mass, and new antifungal antibiotics and developing marine drugs in antifungal mechanism, the antifungal proteins are classified recent years. Many antimicrobial fungi have been isolated into ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs), pathogenesis- by culture-dependent methods from various marine organisms related proteins (PR), defensins, glycine/histidine-rich such as sponges and algae [35]. Rateb and Ebel [24] gave an proteins, lipid transfer proteins (LTPs), protease inhibitors, overview of new natural products from marine fungi and and other proteins [26]. their biological activities during 2006 to mid-2010, and 690 RIPs have been found in bacteria, fungi, mushrooms, and structures were presented. plants, and have a broad spectrum of biological activities, Now, a great variety of antifungal proteins with different including antitumor, antivirus, antifungus, and anti-insect antifungal characteristics have been identified from various activities. The RIPs have a glycosidase or phosphatase species of fungus. Aspergillus giganteus was the first filamentous activity, resulting in the arrest of protein synthesis due to May 2015 ⎪ Vol. 25⎪ No. 5 621 Rao et al. the ribosome damage caused by these two enzymes [23, Purification and Identification of Antifungal Protein from 30]. RIPs have been classified into three types. Type 1 RIPs A. fumigatus R9 are single-chain N-glycosidases with a molecular mass of A. fumigatus R9 was cultured in GPY medium at 28°C for 11 to 30 kDa. Type 2 RIPs contain two chains, a cell-binding 7 days. The purification of the antifungal protein was performed lectin (B chain) and an N-glycosidase (A chain), with a as previously presented [3]. Briefly, the culture supernatant of A. fumigatus strain R9 was obtained by vacuum filtration through molecular mass of 60 kDa [34]. Type 3 RIPs contain only qualitative filter paper. The culture supernatant was fully saturated one chain, which covers both the cell-binding lectin and N- with ammonium sulfate and then centrifugated at 12,000 ×g for glycosidase [22]. Type 1 RIPs are much less toxic, as they lack 30 min at 4°C. The precipitate containing crude proteins was the B-chain, and thus they do not bind and enter cells [29]. dissolved in distilled water and dialyzed at 4°C for 24 h, and In this study, an antifungal strain, Aspergillus fumigatus finally lyophilized. R9, was isolated from a South Atlantic sediment sample. Its The crude proteins and the fractions separated by ion exchange antifungal protein AfAFPR9 was purified and identified as a chromatography were tested for antifungal activity against the member of RIPs. The antifungal properties of the natural tested fungi. Ion-exchange chromatography was performed with an AKTA FPLC system (GE Healthcare, USA). The crude protein and recombinant AfAFPR9 proteins were characterized. The solution was loaded onto a DEAE Sepharose Fast Flow column results obtained suggest that AfAFPR9 may represent a potential candidate of fungicide controlling plant pathogenic (GE Healthcare), which was pre-equilibrated with starting buffer fungi. A (pH 8.1, 20 mM Tris–HCl) for the primary purification step. The elution program was as follows: 0% elution buffer B (pH 8.1, 20 mM Tris–HCl, 1 M NaCl), 3 CV (coloum volume); 0~40% Materials and Methods elution buffer B, 10 CV; 100% elution buffer B, 2 CV; 0% elution buffer B, 2 CV. The bioactive fraction was concentrated by Tested Strains ultrafiltration in a Vivaspin 15R (molecular weight cutoff 5,000; The tested fungi, including Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (ACCC Sartorius, Germany) and further purified on a CM Sepharose Fast 31200, Agricultural Cultural Collection of China), Fusarium oxysporum Flow column (GE Healthcare, USA) under the same program. The (ACCC 31352), Trichoderma viride (ACCC 30902), Rhizoctonia solani resulting active component was concentrated by ultrafiltration in (ACCC 36316), Alternaria longipes (ACCC 30002), and Sclerotinia a Vivaspin 15R and its purity was assessed by 15% sodium sclerotiorum (ACCC 36081), were provided by Agricultural Cultural dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) Collection of China. Paecilomyces variotii (CGMCC 3.776, China and silver nitrate staining. The purified antifungal protein, named General Microbiological Culture Collection Center) was obtained AfAFP ; was identified by MALDI-TOF-TOF-MS at Shanghai from CGMCC, Institute of Microbiological Chinese Academy of R9 Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Sciences. These seven tested fungi are important plant pathogenic The database search was performed on the Mascot server (http:// fungi in agriculture. www.matrixscience.com/search_from_select.html) with MALDI- TOF-TOF-MS data. Isolation and Identification of an Antifungal Strain The sediment samples used for strain isolation were collected Assay of Antifungal Activity from the South Atlantic (W 14.87°, S 12.12°; depth of water: 2,647 m). The assay for antifungal activity toward the seven phytopathogenic Isolation and identification of the strains as well as analysis of fungal species was carried out in PDA plates. One 0.6 cm diameter their antifungal activity were carried out as previously described piece of tested phytopathogenic fungal strains’ cylinder agar with [3]. Briefly, the sediment samples were diluted with sterilized mycelial growth was placed on the center of a PDA plate. After seawater and approximately 200 µl of the diluted sample was the mycelial colony had developed, sterile blank paper discs of spread on plates containing different types of medium, such as 0.65 cm diameter were placed at a distance of 0.8 cm away from GPY (glucose 1%, peptone 0.2%, and yeast extract 0.05%) and the rim of the growing mycelial colony. Fifty microliter aliquots of YTM (0.5% yeast extract, 0.3% tryptone, and 2.5% mannitol). the supernatant of A. fumigatus R9 and the fractions of ion- Plates were incubated at 28°C for growth. The strains were exchange chromatography were added to each paper disc. Fifty selected based on their morphological features and inoculated microliters of GPY medium or starting buffer A, which dissolved into the corresponding liquid media for further growth to the antifungal protein, was used as blank controls. The plates evaluate their antifungal potential. For the identification of the were incubated at 28°C until mycelial growth enveloped discs antifungal strain, the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) containing the control disc, or formed crescents of inhibition DNA sequence was amplified using the primers ITS5 (5’- around discs containing