The production of enzymes and the colonization of leaves by Leucoagaricus gongylophorus were investigated to further understand the digestive interactions of leaf-cutting ant colonies. The enzymes detected were indicative of a saprophytic origin of this fungus, producing all the enzymes necessary for plant tissue breakdown. Enhanced activities of certain enzymes in the fungus garden extracts may be due to the particular behaviour of the adult worker ants that concentrate fungal acquired enzymes in the rectal fluid and subsequently defaecate these enzymes onto the leaves. The production of chitinases by the fungus may be an ancestral vestige of lower attines, and may have a role as agonists of invading microbes. Growth of the fungus on plant cell wall medium resulted in highest enzyme activity against pectin, reflecting the fact that polygalacturonans comprise the main matrix of the primary plant cell wall. SEM shows that L. gongylophorus does not form specialized structures for cell wall penetration, but gains access to the inner plant tissue at the cut edges of the leaf fragments. Enzymes secreted by the fungus were compared to those seen in larval and adult leaf-cutting ants, demonstrating the inter-dependence of the symbiotic relationship between the ants and their fungi.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpb.2008.09.086 | DOI Listing |
Appl Environ Microbiol
December 2024
Department of Gastrocolorectal Surgery, General Surgery Center, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China.
In confronting the significant challenge posed by multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens, particularly methicillin-resistant (MRSA), the development of innovative anti-infective strategies is essential. Our research focuses on sortase A (SrtA), a vital enzyme for anchoring surface proteins in . We discovered that plantamajoside (PMS), a phenylpropanoid glycoside extracted from .
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhytopathology
January 2025
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Plant Protection Biology, Alnarp, Sweden;
Transglutaminases (TGases) are enzymes highly conserved among prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms, where their role is to catalyze protein cross-linking. One of the putative TGases of has previously been shown to be localized to the cell wall. Based on sequence similarity we were able to identify six more genes annotated as putative TGases and show that these seven genes group together in phylogenetic analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Clin Invest
January 2025
Division of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, United Kingdom.
The T cell antigen presentation platform MR1 consists of 6 allomorphs in humans that differ by no more than 5 amino acids. The principal function of this highly conserved molecule involves presenting microbial metabolites to the abundant mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cell subset. Recent developments suggest that the role of MR1 extends to presenting antigens from cancer cells, a function dependent on the K43 residue in the MR1 antigen binding cleft.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTheranostics
January 2025
Department of Vascular Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, PR China.
Postinterventional restenosis is a major challenge in the treatment of peripheral vascular disease. Current anti-restenosis drugs inhibit neointima hyperplasia but simultaneously impair endothelial repair due to indiscrminative cytotoxity. Stem cell-derived exosomes provide multifaceted therapeutic effects by delivering functional miRNAs to endothelial cells, macrophages, and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Plant Sci
December 2024
Consejo Nacional de Humanidades, Ciencias y Tecnologías (CONAHCYT)-Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Veracruzana, Orizaba, Veracruz, Mexico.
In common bean ( L.), leaf photosynthesis is significantly reduced under drought conditions. Previous studies have shown that some drought-tolerant cultivars use the pod walls to compensate the decreased photosynthesis rate in leaves by acting as temporary reservoirs of carbohydrates to support seed filling.
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