Induction by (alpha)-L-Arabinose and (alpha)-L-Rhamnose of Endopolygalacturonase Gene Expression in Colletotrichum lindemuthianum.

The production of endopolygalacturonase (endoPG) by Colletotrichum lindemuthianum, a fungal pathogen causing anthracnose on bean seedlings, was enhanced when the fungus was grown in liquid medium with L-arabinose or L-rhamnose as the sole carbon source. These two neutral sugars are present in plant cell wall pectic polysaccharides. The endolytic nature of the enzyme was demonstrated by its specific interaction with the polygalacturonase-inhibiting protein of the host plant as well as by sugar analysis of the products released from its action on oligogalacturonides. Additional characterization of the protein was achieved with an antiserum raised against the pure endoPG of the fungus. Induction by arabinose and rhamnose was more prolonged and led to a level of enzyme activity at least five times higher than that on pectin. Northern blot experiments showed that this effect was correlated to the induction of a 1.6-kb transcript. A dose-response study indicated that the endoPG transcript level was already increased at a concentration of each sugar as low as 2.75 mM in the medium and was maximum at 55 mM arabinose and 28 mM rhamnose. Glucose, the main plant cell wall sugar residue which is also present in the apoplast, prevented endoPG gene expression, partially when added to pectin at concentrations ranging from 5 to 110 mM and totally when added at 55 mM to arabinose. Inhibition by glucose of the rhamnose-induced endoPG was correlated to nonuptake of rhamnose. This is the first report that arabinose and rhamnose stimulate endoPG gene expression in a fungus. The possible involvement of these various sugars on endoPG gene expression during pathogenesis is discussed.