EN
Polygalacturonase-inhibiting proteins (PGIPs) are multifunctional proteins related to plant autoimmunity and belong to the plant extracellular leucine-rich repeat (eLRR) protein superfamily. PGIPs play a role in host defense in many plants. In the present study, a novel PGIP gene, PpPGIP was isolated from Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai cv Huobali. The nucleotide sequence of PpPGIP was highly homologous with PGIPs from other plant species and the protein encoded by PpPGIP has several conserved LRR domains. The putative protein PpPGIP was closely clustered with several PGIPs from horticultural plants on the phylogenetic tree. The constructed homology model of PpPGIP indicated that the main-chain conformation and the folding patterns of PpPGIP were highly similar to structural features of PvPGIP2 from Phaseolus vulgaris. The expression levels of PpPGIP in healthy tissue and organ of ‘Huobali’ were analyzed with RT-PCR, and PpPGIP accumulated a little in young leaves, but PpPGIP was expressed abundantly in the pericarp of ‘Huobali’ fruits. Furthermore, in order to verify the function of PpPGIP, the constitutive plant expression vector of PpPGIP was constructed and transferred into tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv Xanthi). The Southern blot and real-time PCR analyses demonstrated that the PpPGIP gene was integrated into the genome of the tobacco transformants and highly expressed in the transgenic lines. The antifungal activity of PpPGIP was detected in vitro plates, and the crude protein extract of transgenic tobacco plants inhibited the hyphal growth of Phomopsis sp., Alternaria sp., Penicillium sp., and Aspergillus niger in different degrees.