Solubilization, partial purification, and characterization of a binding site for a glycopeptide elicitor from microsomal membranes of tomato cells

Purified glycopeptides derived from yeast invertase act as highly potent elicitors in suspension-cultured tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum [L.] Mill) cells, inducing ethylene biosynthesis and phenylalanine ammonia lyase half-maximally at concentrations of 1 to 5 nM. We previously demonstrated the presence of a high-affinity binding site that specifically recognized these glycopeptides in cells and microsomal membranes of tomato (C.W. Basse, A. Fath, T. Boller [1993] J Biol Chem 268: 14724-14731). This elicitor-binding site was solubilized in an active form from the microsomal membranes using the neutral detergents n-dodecylmaltoside and n-dodecanoylsucrose and purified 67-fold in a single step by anion-exchange chromatography. Ligand saturation studies and competition experiments with unlabeled glycopeptides and glycans demonstrated that the detergent-solubilized elicitor-binding site retained the high affinity (K-d approximately 1-4 nM) and selectivity of the membrane-bound form. The binding site was found to have a high affinity for N-linked glycans with nine mannosyl residues from fungal glycoproteins, whereas it did not recognize the typical mammalian glycans with nine mannosyl residues, demonstrating further its high selectivity.