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Chemical modifications of the nucleotides can improve the stability of aptamers against enzyme degradation in serum, but it is not clear whether these methods are effective in snake venom. In this study, a DNA aptamer, βB-1, which specifically recognize β-bungarotoxin and Bungarus multicinctus venom was chosen, and the key binding sequence of the aptamer was determined. Based on the secondary structure of the truncated aptamer, locked nucleic acids and 2′-O-methyl nucleotides were applied to modify the stem and loop sequences, respectively. In addition, a 3′-3′-thymidine cap was also adopted to block the 3′ end. It was shown that these chemical modifications can all enhance the stability of the aptamer in snake venom. Simultaneously, modified aptamer with the above modifications in one sequence exhibited a significantly elevated biostability, with the half-life improved from several minutes to 210 min while maintaining its binding affinity to the target.

The fungus Pochonia chlamydosporia is a biocontrol agent with commercial potential for root-knot and cyst nematodes. In this study, a gene (designated pcchi44) encoding an extracellular endochitinase was isolated for the first time from P. chlamydosporia using degenerate primers and a genome walking technique. The 2385-bp pcchi44 sequence is interrupted by three introns and encodes a 424-amino acid polypeptide. The cDNA sequence of pcchi44 was amplified via reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and overexpressed in Escherichia coli BL21. The recombinant chitinase PCCHI44 was purified as a protein of ca. 44 kDa with an optimal activity at pH 6.0 and 50 °C. The Vmax and Km value of PCCHI44 using 4-methylumbelliferyl-β- d -N,N′,N″-triacetylchitotrioside as substrate were 8.37 × 10−3 μM s−1 and 9.65 μM, respectively. The hydrolytic activity of PCCHI44 could be completely inhibited by acetazolamide. The chitinase PCCHI44 could damage eggs of both the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita and the insect Bombyx mori.

Cuticle-degrading proteases are involved in the breakdown of cuticle/eggshells of nematodes or insects, a hard physical barrier against fungal infections. Understanding the 3-dimensional structures of these proteins can provide crucial information for improving the effectiveness of these fungi in biocontrol applications, e.g., by targeted protein engineering. However, the structures of these proteases remain unknown. Here, we report the structures of two cuticle-degrading proteases from two species of nematophagous fungi. The two structures were solved with X-ray crystallography to resolutions of 1.65 A (Ver112) and 2.1 A (PL646), respectively. Crystal structures of PL646 and Ver112 were found to be very similar to each other, and similar to that of proteinase K from another fungus Tritirachium album. Differences between the structures were found among residues of the substrate binding sites (S1 and S4). Experimental studies showed that the enzymes differed in hydrolytic activity to synthetic peptide substrates. Our analyses of the hydrophobic/hydrophilic and electrostatic features of these two proteins suggest that their surfaces likely play important roles during fungal infection against nematodes. The two crystal structures provide a solid basis for investigating the relationship between structure and function of cuticle-degrading proteases.

Cuticle-degrading proteases are extracellular subtilisin-like serine proteases that are secreted by entomopathogenic and nematophagous fungi. These proteases can digest the host cuticle during invasion of an insect or nematode and serve as a group of important virulence factors during the infection of nematodes by nematophagous fungi. To elucidate the mechanism of interaction between the proteases and the nematode cuticle, two cuticle-degrading proteases, Ver112 from Lecanicillium psalliotae (syn. Verticillium psalliotae) and PL646 from Paecilomyces lilacinus, were studied. The Ver112 protein and the complex between PL646 and the substrate-like tetrapeptide inhibitor methoxysuccinyl-Ala-Ala-Pro-Val-chloromethyl ketone (MSU-AAPV) were crystallized using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method at 289 K. The crystals were analyzed by X-ray diffraction to resolutions of 1.65 and 2.2 A, respectively. These analyses identified that crystals of Ver112 belonged to space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 43.7, b = 67.8, c = 76.3 A, alpha = beta = gamma = 90 degrees . In contrast, crystals of the PL646-MSU-AAPV complex belonged to space group P2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 65.1, b = 62.5, c = 67.6 A, beta = 92.8 degrees .

The fungus Clonostachys rosea (syn. Gliocladium roseum) is a potential biocontrol agent. It can suppress the sporulation of the plant pathogenic fungus Botrytis cinerea and kill pathogenic nematodes, but the process of nematode pathogenesis is poorly understood. To help understand the underlying mechanism, we constructed recombinant strains containing a plasmid with both the enhanced green fluorescent protein gene egfp and the hygromycin resistance gene hph. Expression of the green fluorescent protein (GFP) was monitored using fluorescence microscopy. Our observations reveal that the pathogenesis started from the adherence of conidia to nematode cuticle for germination, followed by the penetration of germ tubes into the nematode body and subsequent death and degradation of the nematodes. These are the first findings on the infection process of the fungal pathogen marked with GFP, and the developed method can become an important tool for studying the molecular mechanisms of nematode infection by C. rosea.

Antibody-based technology is the main method for diagnosis and treatment of snake bite envenoming currently. However, the development of an antibody, polyclonal or monoclonal, is a complicated and costly procedure. Aptamers are single stranded oligonucleotides that recognize specific targets such as proteins and have shown great potential over the years as diagnostic and therapeutic agents. In contrast to antibodies, aptamers can be selected in vitro without immunization of animals, and synthesized chemically with extreme accuracy, low cost and high degree of purity. In this study we firstly report on the identification of DNA aptamers that bind to β-bungarotoxin (β-BuTx), a neurotoxin from the venom of Bungarus multicinctus. A plate-SELEX method was used for the selection of β-BuTx specific aptamers. After 10 rounds of selection, four aptamer candidates were obtained, with the dissociation constant ranged from 65.9 nM to 995 nM measured by fluorescence spectroscopy. Competitive binding assays using both the fluorescently labeled and unlabeled aptamers revealed that the four aptamers bound to the same binding site of β-BuTx. The best binder, βB-1, bound specifically to β-BuTx, but not to BSA, casein or α-Bungarotoxin. Moreover, electrophoretic mobility shift assay and enzyme-linked aptamer assay demonstrated that βB-1 could discriminate B. multicinctus venom from other snake venoms tested. The results suggest that aptamer βB-1 can serve as a useful tool for the design and development of drugs and diagnostic tests for β-BuTx poisoning and B. multicinctus bites.

A serine protease termed Da-36 was isolated from crude venom of Deinagkistrodon acutus. The enzyme was a single chain protein with an apparent molecular weight of 36,000 on SDS-PAGE with an isoelectric point of 6.59. Da-36 could clot human plasma by cleaving the Aα, Bβ and γ chains of fibrinogen and also exhibited arginine esterase activity. The proteolytic activity of Da-36 toward TAME was strongly inhibited by PMSF and moderately affected by benzamidine and aprotinin, indicating that it was a serine protease. Meanwhile, Da-36 showed stability with wide temperature (20-50 °C) and pH value ranges (pH 6-10). Divalent metal ions of Ca(2+), Mg(2+), and Mn(2+) had no effects but Zn(2+) and Cu(2+) inhibited the arginine esterase activity of Da-36. Total DNA was extracted directly from the lyophilized crude venom and the gene (5.5 kbp) coding for Da-36 had been successfully cloned. Sequence analysis revealed that the Da-36 gene contained five exons and four introns. The mature Da-36 was encoded by four separate exons. The deduced mature amino acid sequence of Da-36 was in good agreement with the determined N-terminal sequence of the purified protein and shared high homology with other serine proteases isolated from different snake venoms. Blast search using amino acid sequence of Da-36 against public database revealed that Da-36 showed a maximal identity of 90% with both Dav-X (Swiss-Prot: Q9I8W9.1) and thrombin-like protein 1 (GenBank: AAW56608.1) from the same snake species, indicating that Da-36 is a novel serine protease.

From the culture filtrate of the fungus Dactylellina varietas (syn. Dactylella varietas), an extracellular protease (designed Dv1) was purified by cation exchange and hydrophobic interaction chromatography. The purified protease showed a molecular mass of approximately 30 kDa and displayed an optimal activity at pH 8 and 60.5 degrees C (more than 20 min). This protease could degrade a broad range of substrates including casein, gelatin, BSA (bovine serum albumin), and nematode cuticle. However, its proteolytic activity was highly sensitive to the serine protease inhibitor Phenylmethylphonylfuoride (1 mM), indicating that it belongs to the serine-type peptidase group. This protease could immobilize the free-living nematodes Panagrellus redivivus and Caenorhabditis elegans and hydrolyze the purified cuticle of P. redivivus, suggesting it may play a role in infection against nematodes. The encoding gene of Dv1 and its promoter sequence were cloned using degenerate primers and the DNA walking technology. Its open-reading frame contains 1,224 base pairs and without any intron. The deduced amino-acid sequence shared low identity to serine proteases from other nematode-trapping fungi. Our report identified a novel pathogenic protease from the nematode-trapping fungus D. varietas, and the three-dimensional structure of this protease was predicted using the Swiss-Prot method.