Purification, cDNA cloning and recombinant protein expression of a phloem lectin-like anti-insect defense protein BPLP from the phloem exudate of the wax gourd, Benincasa hispida.

Latex and other exudates in plants contain various proteins that are thought to play important defensive roles against herbivorous insects and pathogens. Herein, the defensive effects of phloem exudates against the Eri silkworm, Samia ricini (Saturniidae, Lepidoptera) in several cucurbitaceous plants were investigated. It was found that phloem exudates are responsible for the defensive activities of cucurbitaceous plants, such as the wax gourd Benincasa hispida and Cucumis melo, especially in B. hispida, whose leaves showed the strongest growth-inhibitory activity of all the cucurbitaceous plants tested. A 35 kDa proteinaceous growth-inhibitory factor against insects designated BPLP (B. hispida Phloem Lectin-like Protein) was next isolated and purified from the B. hispida exudate, using anion exchange and gel filtration chromatography. A very low concentration (70 μg/g) of BPLP significantly inhibited growth of S. ricini larvae. The full-length cDNA (1076 bp) encoding BPLP was cloned and its nucleotide sequence was determined. The deduced amino acid sequence of BPLP had 51% identity with a cucurbitaceous phloem lectin (phloem protein 2, PP2), and showed binding specificity to oligomers of N-acetylglucosamine. Some features of BPLP indicated that it does not have a cysteine residue and it is composed of two repeats of similar sequences, suggesting that BPLP is distinct from PP2. Recombinant BPLP, obtained by expressing the cDNA in Escherichia coli, showed both chitin-binding lectin activity and growth-inhibitory activity against S. ricini larvae. The present study thus provides experimental evidence that phloem exudates of Cucurbitaceae plants, analogous to plant latex, play defensive roles against insect herbivores, especially against chewing insects, and contain defensive substances toxic to them.