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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, September 1998, p. 2171-2173, Vol. 42, No. 9
0066-4804/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Fungal beta -Tubulin, Expressed as a Fusion Protein, Binds Benzimidazole and Phenylcarbamate Fungicides

Derek W. Hollomon,1,* Jenny A. Butters,1 Helen Barker,2 and Len Hall2

IACR-Long Ashton Research Station, Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Bristol, Long Ashton, Bristol BS41 9AF,1 and Department of Biochemistry, University of Bristol School of Medical Sciences, Bristol BS8 1TD,2 United Kingdom

Received 9 December 1997/Returned for modification 4 February 1998/Accepted 9 June 1998

Benzimidazoles are important antitubulin agents used in veterinary medicine and plant disease control. Resistance is a practical problem correlated with single amino acid changes in beta -tubulin and is often linked to greater sensitivity to phenylcarbamates. This negative cross-resistance creates opportunities for durable antiresistance strategies. Attempts to understand the molecular basis of benzimidazole resistance have been hampered by the inability to purify tubulin from filamentous fungi. We have overcome some of these problems by expressing beta -tubulin as a fusion with a maltose binding protein. This fusion protein is soluble, and we confirm for the first time using a gel filtration assay that benzimidazoles indeed bind to beta -tubulin. This binding is reduced by the mutation Glu198right-arrowGly198, which also confers resistance. Binding of phenylcarbamates is the complete opposite, reflecting their biological activity and the negative cross-resistance. This suggests that the fungicide binding sites fold correctly in the fusion protein.


* Corresponding author. Mailing address: IACR-Long Ashton Research Station, Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Bristol, Long Ashton, Bristol BS41 9AF, United Kingdom. Phone: 44 1275 549268. Fax: 44 1275 394007. E-mail: DEREK.HOLLOMON{at}BBSRC.AC.UK.


Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, September 1998, p. 2171-2173, Vol. 42, No. 9
0066-4804/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.



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