Carnivorous plants capture and digest prey to obtain additional nutrients. Therefore, different trapping mechanisms were developed in different species. Plants of the genus Nepenthes possess pitfall-traps filled with a digestive fluid, which is secreted by the plants themselves. This pitcher fluid is composed of various enzymes to digest the captured prey. Besides hydrolytic enzymes, defense-related proteins have been identified in the fluid. The present study describes the identification and heterologous expression of a pathogenesis-related protein, NmPR-1, from pitchers of Nepenthes mirabilis with features that are unusual for PR-1 proteins. In particular, it was proven to be highly glycosylated and, furthermore, it exhibited antibacterial instead of antifungal activities. These properties are probably due to the specific environment of the pitcher fluid.
Keywords: Antibacterial activity; Carnivorous plants; Glycosylation; Nepenthes; PR-1 protein; Pathogenesis-related proteins; Pitcher fluid; Sf9 insect cell expression.
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