Biologia plantarum 55:335-339, 2011 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-011-0049-z

A latex lectin from Euphorbia trigona is a potent inhibitor of fungal growth

N. van Deenen1, D. Prüfer1,2, C. Schulze Gronover2,*
1 Institute for Biochemistry and Biotechnology of Plants, Westphalian Wilhelms-University Muenster, Münster, Germany
2 Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology, Aachen, Germany

In this study we identified and characterized a major latex lectin - designated as EtLLH - with antimicrobial activity from the succulent African milk tree Euphorbia trigona. The lectin is highly concentrated in the latex of E. trigona and appears to be composed of at least two subunits with a molecular mass of 32 kDa. EtLLH shares significant similarities to known plant lectins - ricin from Ricinus communis and agglutinin from Viscum album coloratum - which specifically bind D-galactose and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, the major building blocks of many fungal cell walls. Antimicrobial activity assays revealed an impact of EtLLH on three phytopathogenic filamentous ascomycetes. The germination of the conidiospores and the hyphal growth of Aspergillus niger and Fusarium graminearum were severely inhibited by EtLLH already at concentrations below 0.1 mg cm-3, while the effect on germination of the melanized conidiospores of Botrytis cinerea was less significant.

Keywords: African milk tree; antimicrobial activity; Aspergillus niger; Botrytis cinerea; Fusarium graminearum; phytopathogenic fungi; sugar-binding protein

Received: July 22, 2009; Accepted: March 30, 2010; Published: June 1, 2011Show citation

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van Deenen, N., Prüfer, D., & Gronover, C. (2011). A latex lectin from Euphorbia trigona is a potent inhibitor of fungal growth. Biologia plantarum, 55(2), 335-339. doi: 10.1007/s10535-011-0049-z.
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