Structural and Functional Characterization of PA14/Flo5-Like Adhesins From .

Cell-cell and cell-substrate based adhesion of yeasts are major determinants of their adoption of different life styles. Genome-mining of ascomycetous GPI-anchored cell wall proteins with lectin-like PA14 domains identified a unique class of putative adhesins in the clade of methylotrophic yeasts, many of which are known to colonize plants and insects involving yet unknown adhesion mechanisms. Here, we report the functional and structural analysis of two of its members: Flo1 (=Cea1), that is highly specific for terminal -acetylglucosamine moieties, and Flo2, which represents an orphan lectin with intact binding site but unknown specificity.