Glycoproteins from sugarcane plants regulate cell polarity of Ustilago scitaminea teliospores

Saccharum officinarum, cv. Mayarí, is a variety of sugarcane resistant to smut disease caused by Ustilago scitaminea. Sugarcane naturally produces glycoproteins that accumulate in the parenchymatous cells of stalks. These glycoproteins contain a heterofructan as polysaccharide moiety. The concentration of these glycoproteins clearly increases after inoculation of sugarcane plants with smut teliospores, although major symptoms of disease are not observed. These glycoproteins induce homotypic adhesion and inhibit teliospore germination. When glycoproteins from healthy, non-inoculated plants are fractionated, they inhibit actin capping, which occurs before teliospore germination. However, inoculation of smut teliospores induce glycoprotein fractions that promote teliospore polarity and are different from those obtained from healthy plants. These fractions exhibit arginase activity, which is strongly enhanced in inoculated plants. Arginase from healthy plants binds to cell wall teliospores and it is completely desorpted by sucrose, but only 50% of arginase activity from inoculated plants is desorpted by the disaccharide. The data presented herein are consistent with a model of excess arginase entry into teliospores. Arginase synthesized by sugarcane plants as a response to the experimental infection would increase the synthesis of putrescine, which impedes polarization at concentration values higher than 0.05 mM. However, smut teliospores seem to be able to change the pattern of glycoprotein production by sugarcane, thereby promoting the synthesis of different glycoproteins that activate polarization after binding to their cell wall ligand.