Two homologous cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) genes, GhCTL1 and GhCTL2, encode members of a new group of chitinase-like proteins (called the GhCTL group) that includes other proteins from two cotton species, Arabidopsis, rice, and pea. Members of the GhCTL group are assigned to family GH19 glycoside hydrolases along with numerous authentic chitinases (http://afmb.cnrs-mrs.fr/CAZY/index.html), but the proteins have novel consensus sequences in two regions that are essential for chitinase activity and that were previously thought to be conserved. Maximum parsimony phylogenetic analyses, as well as Neighbor-Joining distance analyses, of numerous chitinases confirmed that the GhCTL group is distinct. A molecular model of GhCTL2 (based on the three-dimensional structure of a barley chitinase) had changes in the catalytic site that are likely to abolish catalytic activity while retaining potential to bind chitin oligosaccharides. RNA blot analysis showed that members of the GhCTL group had preferential expression during secondary wall deposition in cotton lint fiber. Cotton transformed with a fusion of the GhCTL2 promoter to the beta -d-glucuronidase gene showed preferential reporter gene activity in numerous cells during secondary wall deposition. Together with evidence from other researchers that mutants in an Arabidopsis gene within the GhCTL group are cellulose-deficient with phenotypes indicative of altered primary cell walls, these data suggest that members of the GhCTL group of chitinase-like proteins are essential for cellulose synthesis in primary and secondary cell walls. However, the mechanism by which they act is more likely to involve binding of chitin oligosaccharides than catalysis.
The collection of symbiotic (sym) mutants of white sweetclover (Melilotus alba Desr.) provides a developmental sequence of mutants blocked early in infection or nodule organogenesis. Mutant phenotypes include non-nodulating mutants that exhibit root-hair deformations in response to Rhizobium meliloti, mutants that form ineffective nodules lacking infection threads, and mutants that form infection threads and ineffective nodules. Mutant alleles from both the sym-1 and the sym-3 loci exhibited a non-nodulating phenotype in response to R. meliloti, although one allele in the sym-1 locus formed ineffective nodules at a low frequency. Spot-inoculation experiments on a non-nodulating allele in the sym-3 locus indicated that this mutant lacked cortical cell divisions following inoculation with R. meliloti. The auxin transport inhibitor K ( 1 -naphthyl)phthalamic acid elicited development of pseudonodules at a high frequency on all of the sweetclover sym mutants, including the nonnodulating mutants, in which the early nodulin ENODZ was expressed. This suggests that K ( 1 -naphthyl)phthalamic acid activates cortical cell divisions by circumventing a secondary signal transduction event that is lacking in the non-nodulating sweetclover mutants. The sym-3 locus and possibly the sym-1 locus appear to be essential to early host plant responses essential to nodule organogenesis.
The growth of indoor molds and their resulting products (e.g., spores and mycotoxins) can present health hazards for human beings. The efficacy of chlorine dioxide gas as a fumigation treatment for inactivating sick building syndrome-related fungi and their mycotoxins was evaluated. Filter papers (15 per organism) featuring growth of Stachybotrys chartarum, Chaetomium globosum, Penicillium chrysogenum, and Cladosporium cladosporioides were placed in gas chambers containing chlorine dioxide gas at either 500 or 1,000 ppm for 24 h. C. globosum was exposed to the gas both as colonies and as ascospores without asci and perithecia. After treatment, all organisms were tested for colony growth using an agar plating technique. Colonies of S. chartarum were also tested for toxicity using a yeast toxicity assay with a high specificity for trichothecene mycotoxins. Results showed that chlorine dioxide gas at both concentrations completely inactivated all organisms except for C. globosum colonies which were inactivated an average of 89%. More than 99% of ascospores of C. globosum were nonculturable. For all ascospore counts, mean test readings were lower than the controls (P < 0.001), indicating that some ascospores may also have been destroyed. Colonies of S. chartarum were still toxic after treatment. These data show that chlorine dioxide gas can be effective to a degree as a fumigant for the inactivation of certain fungal colonies, that the perithecia of C. globosum can play a slightly protective role for the ascospores and that S. chartarum, while affected by the fumigation treatment, still remains toxic.Sick building syndrome (SBS) is a broad term for a range of human health symptoms associated with poor indoor air quality. While poor indoor air quality can be related to a number of issues, the one that has received the most attention in the last 5 to 10 years has been the effects of airborne fungi and their products (2, 6, 12). It has been acknowledged that damp and moldy structures are potentially harmful to the occupants (16). Therefore, from a human health standpoint, it is recommended that the conditions that allowed for fungal proliferation inside human occupied structures be addressed and corrected and that existing fungal growth be removed or treated from any affected substrates. However, a problem is the detection of hidden mold growth sites. Invasive investigations can assist in this regard, but these investigations can be costly to effect and there is also the possibility that some growth sites can be overlooked. It is possible that gaseous fungicides may be able to circumvent this problem because the gas can penetrate into crevices, wall cavities and other hard to access areas, thus treating the inaccessible mold colonies. The contents inside a contaminated structure may also be able to be sterilized (10) using this technique as well. A biocide, chlorine dioxide, has been previously been used in a gaseous form for bacterial decontamination (1, 9). It has been also shown to have a degree of fungicidal activi...
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