Plant degradation: a nematode expansin acting on plants |
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Authors: | Qin Ling Kudla Urszula Roze Erwin H A Goverse Aska Popeijus Herman Nieuwland Jeroen Overmars Hein Jones John T Schots Arjen Smant Geert Bakker Jaap Helder Johannes |
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Institution: | Laboratory of Nematology, Graduate School of Experimental Plant Sciences, Wageningen University, 6709 PD Wageningen, The Netherlands. |
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Abstract: | Expansin proteins, which have so far been identified only in plants, rapidly induce extension of plant cell walls by weakening the non-covalent interactions that help to maintain their integrity. Here we show that an animal, the plant-parasitic roundworm Globodera rostochiensis, can also produce a functional expansin, which it uses to loosen cell walls when invading its host plant. As this nematode is known to be able to disrupt covalent bonds in plant cell walls, its accompanying ability to loosen non-covalent bonds challenges the prevailing view that animals are genetically poorly equipped to degrade plant cell walls. |
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