Recently several new evidences have appeared on biological role of native short peptides. This is an overview on two of them occurring in plants: systemin and ENOD 40.
1. Bergey, D.R., Howe, G.A. & Ryan, C.A. (1996) Polypeptide signaling for plant defensive genes exhibits analogies to defense signaling in animals. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., U.S.A. 93, 12053-12058.
2. Pearce, G., Strydom, D., Johnson, S. & Ryan, C.A. (1991) A polypeptide from tomato leaves induces wound-inducible proteinase inhibitor proteins. Science 253. 895-898.
3. Enyedi, A.J., Yalpani, N., Silverman, P. & Raskin, T. (1992) Signal molecules in systemic plant resistance to pathogens and pests. Cell 70, 879-S86.
6. John, M., Röhrig, H., Schmidt, J., Waiden, R., Schell, J. (1997) Cell signalling by oligosaccharides. Trends Plant Sei. 2, 111- 115.
7. Van de Sande, K., Pawlowski, K., Czaja, I., Wieneke, U., Schell, J.t Schmidt, J., Waiden. R., Matvienko, M., Wellink, J., Van Kämmen, A., Franssen, H. & Bisseling, T. (1996) Modification of phytohormone response by a peptide encoded by ENOD40 of legumes and a nonlegume. Science 273, 370-373.
8. Chinnaiyan, A.M., O'Rourke, K.A., Guo- -Liang, Y.U., Lyons, R.H., Garg, M., Duan, R., Xing, L., Gentz, R., Ni, J. & Dixit, V.M. (1996) Signal transduction by DR3, a death domain-containing receptor related to TNFR-1 and CD95. Science 274, 990-992.
9. Ten son, T., De Blasio, A. & Mankin, A. (1996) A functional peptide encoded in the 23S rRNA. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sei. U.S.A. 93, 5641-5646.
10. McGurl, B., Pearce, G., Oronzca-Cardenas, M. & Ryan, C.A. (1992) Structure, expression and antisense inhibition of the systemin precursor gene. Science 255, 1570-1573.
11. McGurl, B. & Ryan, O.A. (1992) The organization of the prosystemin gene. Plant Mol. Biol. 20. 405—409.
12. Narvaez-Vasquez, J., Pearce, G., Orozco- -Cardenas, M.L., Franceschi, V.R. & Ryan, C.A. (1995) Autoradiographic and biochemical evidence for the systemic translocation of systemin in tomato plants. Planta 195, 593-600.
13. Schaller, A. & Ryan, C.A. (1996) Systemin — a polypeptide defence signal in plants. BioEssays 18, 27-33.
14. Constabel, C.P., Bergey, D.R. & Ryan, C.A. (1995) Systemin activates synthesis of wound — inducible tomato leaf polyphenol oxidase via the octadecanoid defense signaling pathway. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sei. Ü.S.A. 92. 407-411.
15. Doares, S.H., Syrovets, T., Weiler, E.W. & Ryan, C.A. (1995) Oligogalactouronides and chitosan activate plant defensive genes through the octadecanoid pathway. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.r U.S.A. 92, 409S-4098.
16. Schaller, A. & Ryan, C.A. (1994) Identification of a 50-kDa systemin-binding protein in tomato plasma membranes having Kex2p-like properties. Proc. Natl.Acad. Sci., U.S.A. 91, 11802-11806.
17. Felix, G. & Boiler, T. (1995) Systemin induces rapid ion fluxes and ethylene biosynthesis in Lycopersicon peruvianum cells. Plant J. 7, 381-389.
18. Moyen, C. & Johannes, E. (1996) Systemin transiently depolarises the tomato meso- phyll cell membrane and antagonizer fusicoccin-induced extracellular acidification of mesophyll tissue. Plant Cell Environm. 19, 464—470.
20. Ślósarek, G., Kalbitzer, H.R., Mucha, P., Rekowski, P., Kupryszewski, G., Giel- -Pietraszuk, M., Szymański, M. & Barci- szewski, J. (1995) Mechanism of the activation of proteinase inhibitor synthesis by systemin involves P-sheet structure, a specific DNA-binding protein domain. J. Struct. Biol. 115. 30-36.
21. Ślósarek, G. & Barciszewski, J. (1996) Struktura i funkcja systcminy — peptydu o właściwościach hormonu roślinnego. Post. Biol. Komórki 23, 475-487 (in Polish).
22. Toumadje, A. & Johnson, W.C. (1995) Systemin has the characteristics of a poly(L-proline) II type helix. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 117. 7023-7024.
23. Gresh, N. (1996) Can polyproline II helical motif be used in the context of sequence-selective major groove recognition of B-DNA? A molecular modelling investigation. J. Biomol. Struct. Dyn. 14. 255-273.
24. Perez, J.J., Sharkey, M. & Centeno, N.B. (1996) On the bioactive conformation of a small peptide and its set of thermodynami- cally accessible conformations. J. Biomol. Struct. Dyn. 14, 185-191.
26. Ryan, C.A. (1996) A polypeptide gets the nod. Trends Plant Sci. 11, 365-366.
27. Keil, M., Sanchez-Serrano, M., Schell, J. & Willmitzer, L. (1986). Primary structure of a proteinase inhibitor II gene from potato. Nucleic Acids Res. 14, 5641-5650.
28. Specht, T., glosarek. G., Kalbitzer, H.R., Erd- mann, V.A., Mucha, P., Rekowski, P., Ku- pryszewski, G., Giel-Pietraszuk, M., Szy- mariski, M. & Barciszewski, J. (1997) The tertiary structure of plant peptide hormone system in and mechanism of its action; in Plant Proteins of European Crops (Gegeun, J., ed.) Elsevier.
29. Pearce, G., Johnson, S. & Ryan. C.A. (1993) Structure-activity of deleted and substituted systemin, an 18-amino acid polypeptide inducer of plant defensive genes. J. Biol. Chem. 268, 212-216.
30. Prome, J.C. (1996) Signalling events elicited in plants by defined oligosaccharide structures. Curr. Opin. Struct. Biol. 6, 671-678.
31. Geurts, R. & Franssen, H. (1996) Signal transduction in .R/n'zo&i'ura-induced nodule formation. Plant Physiol. 112,447-453.
32. Lorkiewicz, Z. (1997) Nodulation genes in the Rhizobium — plant signal exchange. Acta Biochim. Polon. 44, 1-12.
33. Hirsch, A.M. (1992) Developmental biology of legume nodulation. New Phytol. 122, 211- 237.
34. Hirsch, A.M., Bhuvaneswari, T.V., Torrey, J.G. & Bisseling, T. (1989) Early nodulin genes are induced in alfalfa root outgrowths elicited by auxin transport inhibitors. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 86, 1244-1248.
36. Charon, C., Johansson, Ch., Kondorosi, E., Kondorosi, A. & Crespi, M. (1997) enod40 induces dedifferentation and division of root cortical cells in legumes. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., U.S.A. 94, 8901-8906.
37. Minami, E., Kouchi, H., Kohn, J.R., Ogawa, T. & Stacey, G. (1996) Expression of the early nodulin, ENOD 40, in soybean roots in response to various lipo-chitin signal molecules. Plant J. 10, 23-32.
38. Yang, W.C., Katinakis, P., Hendriks, P., Smolders, A., de Vries, F., Spee, J., van Kämmen, A. & Bisseling, T. (1993) Characterization of GmENOD 40, a gene showing novel patterns of cell-specific expression during soybean nodule development. Plant J. 3, 573- 585.
39. Freiberg, C., Fellay, R., Bairoch, A., ßroughton, W.J., Rosenthal, A. & Perret, X. (1997) Molecular basis of symbiosis between Rhizobium and legumes. Nature 387, 394- 401.
40. Crespi, M.D., Jurkevitch, E., Poiret, M., d'Aubenton-Carafa, Y., Petrovics, G., Kondorosi, E. & Kondorosi, A. (1994) Enod40, a gene expressed during nodule organogenesis, codes for a non-translatable RNA involved in plant growth. EMBO J. 13, 5099-5112.
41. Papadopoulou, K., Roussis, A. & Katinalis, P. (1996) Phaseolus ENOD 40 is involved in symbiotic and non-symbiotic organogenetic processes: Expression during nodule and lateral root development. Plant Mol. Biol. 30, 403—417.
42. Vijn, I., Yang, W.C., Pallisgard, N., Jensen, E.O.. van Kämmen, A. & Bisseling, T. (1995) VsENOD 5, VsENOD 12 and VsENOD 40 expression during Rhizobi urn-induccd nodule formation on Vicio sativa roots. Plant Mol. Biol. 28, 1111-1119.
43. Kouchi, H. & Hata, S. (1993) Isolation and characterization of novel nodulin cDNAs representing genes expressed at early stages of soybean nodule development. Mol. Gen. Genet. 238, 106-119.
44. Matvicnko, M., van den Sarde, K., Yang, W. -C., van Kämmen, A., Bisseling, T. & Franssen, Ii. (1994) Comparison of soybean and pea ENOD4Ü cDNA clones representing genes espresscd during both early and late stages of nodule development. Plant Mol. Biol. 26, 487- 493.
45. Legocki, A.B., Karłowski, W.M., Podkowiński, J., Sikorski, M. & Stępkowski, T. (1997) Advances in molecular characterization of the yellow lupin—Brady rhizobium sp. (Lupinus) symbiotic model; in Biological Fixation of Nitrogen for Ecology and Sustainable Agriculture (Ixîgocki, A., Bothe, H. & Pûhlereds. A., eds.) vol. 39, pp. 263-266, NATO ASI Series, Springer Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg.
46. Crespi, M., Johansson, C., Charon, C., Frugier, F., Poirier, S. & Kondorosi, A. (1997) ENOD 40 expression and phytohormonal imbalances in nodule organogenesis; in Biological Fixation of Nitrogen for Ecology and Sustainable Agriculture (Legocki, A., Bothe, H. & Piihler, A., eds.) vol. 39, pp. 55-58, NATO ASI Series, Springer Verlag, Berlin.