Glycine rich proline rich protein from Sorghum bicolor serves as an antimicrobial protein implicated in plant defense response

Key message Sorghum glycine rich proline rich protein (SbGPRP1) exhibit antimicrobial properties and play a crucial role during biotic stress condition. Several proteins in plants build up the innate immune response system in plants which get triggered during the occurrence of biotic stress. Here we report the functional characterization of a glycine-rich proline-rich protein (SbGPRP1) from Sorghum which was previously demonstrated to be involved in abiotic stresses. Expression studies carried out with SbGPRP1 showed induced expression upon application of phytohormones like salicylic acid which might be the key in fine-tuning the expression level. Upon challenging the Sorghum plants with a compatible pathogen the SbGprp1 transcript was found to be upregulated. SbGPRP1 encodes a 197 amino acid polypeptide which was bacterially-expressed and purified for in vitro assays. Gram-positive bacteria like Bacillus and phytopathogen Rhodococcus fascians showed inhibited growth in the presence of the protein. The NPN assay, electrolytic leakage and SEM analysis showed membrane damage in bacterial cells. Ectopic expression of SbGPRP1 in tobacco plants led to enhanced tolerance towards infection caused by R. fascians . Though the N-terminal part of the protein showed disorderness the C-terminal end was quite capable of forming several α-helices which was correlated with CD spectroscopic analysis. Here, we have tried to determine the structural model for the protein and predicted the association of antimicrobial activity with the C-terminal region of the protein.