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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, September 1998, p. 2171-2173, Vol. 42, No. 9
IACR-Long Ashton Research Station,
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
0066-4804/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Fungal
-Tubulin, Expressed as a Fusion Protein,
Binds Benzimidazole and Phenylcarbamate Fungicides
-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
-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
-tubulin.
This binding is reduced by the mutation Glu198
Gly198, 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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