The first author

of this paper appreciates the financial support from the Ministry of Higher Education, Egypt, during the study period. ”
“Cerato-platanin (CP) is a protein produced by Ceratocystis platani, the causal agent of canker stain disease of plane trees. CP is the first member of the ‘cerato-platanin family’, and its role as a pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP), inducing defence responses both in host and nonhost plants, is established. However, the primary role of CP and its homologues in the fungal life remains unknown. In the present MEK inhibitor cancer work, we investigated the regulation of the cp gene during the in vitro growth of C. platani in different conditions and under the effect of potential stress factors. Fungal growth and conidiogenesis were also analysed. Results showed that cp is a single-copy gene whose expression level is strictly associated with hyphal growth and with chlamydospores formation. The analysis of a 1368 bp 5′-flanking region revealed putative motifs that could be involved in the regulation of gene expression in response to stress and developmental cues. Taking into account the localization of CP in the fungal cell wall and the recently published 3D structure of the protein, our results support a role for CP in growth and developmental RG7422 cost processes of C. platani. Cerato-platanin (CP) is a 12.4 kDa

noncatalytic protein firstly isolated by Pazzagli et al. (1999) from culture filtrates of the ascomycete Ceratocystis platani (Walter) Engelbrecht & Harrington, the causal agent of canker stain disease of plane trees (Platanus orientalis L., Platanus occidentalis L. and their hybrid Platanus acerifolia (Ait.) Willd.) (Panconesi, 1999; Engelbrecht & Harrington, 2005). Mature CP consists of 120 amino acids, with four cysteines forming two disulphide bonds, and it is a stable component of the fungal cell wall (Pazzagli et al., 1999; Boddi et al., 2004). The protein is secreted Erythromycin when the fungus grows both in axenic culture and on plane leaves; in the latter condition,

the cp gene is expressed earlier (Scala et al., 2004; Bernardi et al., 2011). CP elicits defence-related reactions from both host and nonhost plants; in plane leaves, it causes cell plasmolysis, programmed cell death, production of hydrogen peroxide, nitric oxide and phenolic compounds, localized resistance and overexpression of defence-related genes (Pazzagli et al., 1999; Scala et al., 2004; Bennici et al., 2005; Fontana et al., 2008; Lombardi et al., 2010). According to the zig-zag model of resistance development in plants, as described by Jones & Dangl (2006), CP seems to behave as a pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP) able to trigger the basal defence system. CP is the first member of the cerato-platanin family (Pfam PF07249) (Pazzagli et al.