Overexpression of Arabidopsis aspartic protease APA1 gene confers drought tolerance.

Drought is an environmental stress that severely affects plant growth and crop production. Different studies have focused on drought responses but the molecular bases that regulate these mechanisms are still unclear. We report the participation of Aspartic Protease (APA1) in drought tolerance.

Identification of potassium phosphite responsive miRNAs and their targets in potato.

Micro RNAs (miRNAs) are small single strand non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level, either by translational inhibition or mRNA degradation based on the extent of complementarity between the miRNA and its target mRNAs. Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is the most important horticultural crop in Argentina.

Optimization of fibrinogenolytic activity of subtilisin-like protease (SBTc-3) by response surface methodology.

The aim of this study was to optimize conditions to enhance fibrinogenolytic activity of subtilisin-like protease (SBTc-3). The effects of STBc-3 concentration (0.2-5 μM), pH value (6-10) and temperature (35-50 °C) on fibrinogenolytic activity were studied through response surface methodology (RSM).

Transgenic expression of plant-specific insert of potato aspartic proteases (StAP-PSI) confers enhanced resistance to Botrytis cinerea in Arabidopsis thaliana.

The plant-specific insert of Solanum tuberosum aspartic proteases (StAP-PSI) has high structural similarity with NK-lysin and granulysin, two saposin-like proteins (SAPLIPs) with antimicrobial activity. Recombinant StAP-PSI and some SAPLIPs show antimicrobial activity against pathogens that affect human and plants. In this work, we transformed Arabidopsis thaliana plants with StAP-PSI encoding sequence with its corresponding signal peptide under the control of the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter.

Fibrin(ogen)olytic and antiplatelet activities of a subtilisin-like protease from Solanum tuberosum (StSBTc-3).

Plant serine proteases have been widely used in food science and technology as well as in medicine. In this sense, several plant serine proteases have been proposed as potential anti-coagulants and anti-platelet agents. Previously, we have reported the purification and identification of a plant serine protease from Solanum tuberosum leaves.

Isolation and characterization of a Solanum tuberosum subtilisin-like protein with caspase-3 activity (StSBTc-3).

Plant proteases with caspase-like enzymatic activity have been widely studied during the last decade. Previously, we have reported the presence and induction of caspase-3 like activity in the apoplast of potato leaves during Solanum tuberosum- Phytophthora infestans interaction. In this work we have purified and identified a potato extracellular protease with caspase-3 like enzymatic activity from potato leaves infected with P.

DEVDase activity is induced in potato leaves during Phytophthora infestans infection.

Programmed cell death (PCD) occurs in plants, animals and several branches of unicellular eukaryotes as a part of developmental and/or defense processes. Caspase proteases are universal mediators of animal apoptosis, a type of PCD. In plants, there are not animal caspase homologs; therefore, the characterization of caspase-like activities is of considerable importance to our understanding of PCD in plants.

Hydrophobic proteins secreted into the apoplast may contribute to resistance against Phytophthora infestans in potato.

During plant-pathogen interaction, oomycetes secrete effectors into the plant apoplast where they interact with host resistance proteins, which are accumulated after wounding or infection. Previous studies showed that the expression profile of pathogenesis related proteins is proportional to the resistance of different cultivars toward Phytophthora infestans infection. The aim of this work was to analyze the expression pattern of apoplastic hydrophobic proteins (AHPs), after 24 h of wounding or infection, in tubers from two potato cultivars with different resistance to P.

Potassium phosphite primes defense responses in potato against Phytophthora infestans.

Although phosphite is widely used to protect plants from pathogenic oomycetes on a wide range of horticultural crops, the molecular mechanisms behind phosphite induced resistance are poorly understood. The aim of this work was to assess the effects of potassium phosphite (KPhi) on potato plant defense responses to infection with Phytophtora infestans (Pi). Pathogen development was severely restricted and there was also an important decrease in lesion size in infected KPhi-treated leaves.

Molecular characterization of a potato MAP kinase transcriptionally regulated by multiple environmental stresses.

The MAPK cascade is an evolutionary conserved signaling pathway that links external stimuli with cellular responses. Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a DNA fragment corresponding to a Solanum tuberosum MAPK, StMPK1, was isolated. StMPK1 amino acid sequence displayed over 90% identity with tomato MPK1 (LeMPK1) and tobacco SIPK.

Phosphorylation of a member of the MBF1 transcriptional co-activator family, StMBF1, is stimulated in potato cell suspensions upon fungal elicitor challenge.

StMBF1 (Solanum tuberosum multiprotein bridging factor 1) is a plant member of the MBF1 family of transcriptional co-activators. Previously, it has been described as being up-regulated at the transcriptional level by fungal and abiotic stress. To understand whether StMBF1 is also regulated at the post-translational level, in vitro as well as in vivo phosphorylation assays were performed.