Cowpea lipid transfer protein 1 regulates plant defense by inhibiting the cysteine protease of cowpea mosaic virus.

Many virus genomes encode proteases that facilitate infection. The molecular mechanism of plant recognition of viral proteases is largely unexplored. Using the system of and cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV), we identified a cowpea lipid transfer protein (LTP1) which interacts with CPMV-encoded 24KPro, a cysteine protease, but not with the enzymatically inactive mutant 24KPro(C166A).

Disentangling the effects of metabolic cost and accuracy on movement speed.

On any given day, we make countless reaching movements to objects around us. While such ubiquity may suggest uniformity, each movement's speed is unique-why is this? Reach speed is known to be influenced by accuracy; we slow down to sustain high accuracy. However, in other forms of movement like walking or running, metabolic cost is often the primary determinant of movement speed.

Potent Attractant for Root-Knot Nematodes in Exudates from Seedling Root Tips of Two Host Species.

Root-knot nematodes (RKN; Meloidogyne spp.) can parasitize over 2,000 plant species and are generally considered to be the most agriculturally damaging group of plant-parasitic nematodes worldwide. Infective juveniles (J2) are non-feeding and must locate and invade a host before their reserves are depleted.

The Type II Secreted Lipase/Esterase LesA is a Key Virulence Factor Required for Xylella fastidiosa Pathogenesis in Grapevines.

Pierce's disease (PD) of grapevines is caused by Xylella fastidiosa (Xf), a xylem-limited gamma-proteobacterium that is responsible for several economically important crop diseases. The occlusion of xylem elements and interference with water transport by Xf and its associated biofilm have been posited as the main cause of PD symptom development; however, Xf virulence mechanisms have not been described. Analysis of the Xf secretome revealed a putative lipase/esterase (LesA) that was abundantly secreted in bacterial culture supernatant and was characterized as a protein ortholog of the cell wall-degrading enzyme LipA of Xanthomonas strains.