Department of Biological Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science, 2641 Yamazaki, Noda, 278-8510, Japan.
Transgenic Res. 2010 Jun;19(3):415-24. doi: 10.1007/s11248-009-9320-x. Epub 2009 Sep 27.
Thanatin is an antimicrobial peptide with a strong and wide-ranging antimicrobial spectrum, including certain species of fungi and Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. To evaluate the application of thanatin to the generation of disease-resistant plants, we introduced a synthetic thanatin gene into rice. Several transformants that expressed the introduced gene showed significant level of antimicrobial activity. The substances showing antimicrobial activity were partially purified from these transformants and their properties were determined. The molecule with characteristics similar to those of native thanatin on the elution pattern in HPLC analysis had an identical molecular mass to that of native molecule. It should also be noted that the transformant acquired a sufficient level of resistance to the rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae, presumably due to the repressive activity of thanatin to its initial stage of infection. This result demonstrates that thanatin has antifungal activity for M. oryzae and that the introduction of the thanatin gene into rice is effective in generating a plant resistant to rice blast disease.
Thanatin 是一种具有强大广谱抗菌谱的抗菌肽，包括某些真菌和革兰氏阴性和革兰氏阳性细菌。为了评估 thanatin 在抗病植物生成中的应用，我们将合成的 thanatin 基因导入水稻中。表达导入基因的几个转化体表现出显著的抗菌活性。从这些转化体中部分纯化出具有抗菌活性的物质，并确定了其性质。在 HPLC 分析中洗脱模式与天然 thanatin 相似的分子具有与天然分子相同的分子量。还应该注意的是，转化体对稻瘟病菌 Magnaporthe oryzae 获得了足够水平的抗性，这可能是由于 thanatin 对其感染初期的抑制活性。该结果表明 thanatin 对 M. oryzae 具有抗真菌活性，并且将 thanatin 基因导入水稻中有效地生成了对稻瘟病具有抗性的植物。
