Purification and characterization of 8 of the pathogenesis-related proteins in tobacco leaves reacting hypersensitively to tobacco mosaic virus.

Leaves of tobacco plants (Nicotiana tabacum cv. Samsun NN) which are reacting hypersensitively to infection with tobacco mosaic virus contain 10 major pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins which are absent, or present in small amounts in uninfected leaves. We describe here a preparative procedure of purification of the tobacco PR-proteins which involves a combination of conventional and high-performance liquid chromatography. The separation and isolation of the proteins were based on differences in net charge at different pH values, in isoelectric point and in apparent molecular weight. This procedure led to the purification to homogeneity of 8 PR-proteins, as shown by polyacrylamide slab gel electrophoresis (PAGE) of the purified proteins under denaturing and non-denaturing conditions. These were the 3 well-known proteins PR-1a,-1b and-1c, and 5 other major PR-proteins, called PR-2,-N,-O,-P and-Q, according to the nomenclature of Van Loon (39). None of the purified PR-proteins gave a positive Schiff reaction for carbohydrate content. Molecular weight determinations from gel permeation chromatography and from sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS)-PAGE indicated that all 8 PR-proteins were monomers and that three groups could be distinguished among them. The first group is the PR-1 group containing PR-1a,-1b and-1c (12000 MW), the second consists of PR-P and PR-Q (14000 MW) and the third of PR-2, PR-N and PR-O (25000 MW). In the PR-1 group, PR-1a can be distinguished clearly from the two other members on denaturing slab gels containing both SDS and urea.