Healthy tobacco plants accumulate beta-1,3-glucanases (glucan endo-1,3-beta-glucosidase; EC 3.2.1.39) in their roots and in specific parts of the flowers. After infection with tobacco mosaic virus, acidic and basic beta-1,3-glucanases are induced in the inoculated and virus-free leaves of the plant. An analysis of cDNA clones demonstrated that at least five genes for acidic beta-1,3-glucanases are induced after tobacco mosaic virus infection. Southern blot analysis indicated that the tobacco genome contains approximately eight genes for acidic beta-1,3-glucanases and a smaller number of genes encoding basic beta-1,3-glucanases. Genes from both gene families were cloned and sequenced. The basic isozymes contain a C-terminal extension that is cleaved off during their targeting to the vacuoles. This extension is absent in the acidic isozymes, which accumulate extracellularly. Northern blot hybridization showed that genes encoding acidic and basic beta-1,3-glucanases are strongly induced after tobacco mosaic virus infection or salicylate treatment of tobacco. The cloning of these genes is a first step toward the identification of regulatory elements involved in their coordinate induction.

The 5' flanking region of a gene encoding an acidic beta-1,3-glucanase from Nicotiana tabacum was isolated and characterized. A chimeric gene composed of 1759 bp of the promoter sequence from the PR-2 gene was fused to the beta-glucuronidase (GUS) coding region and used to transform tobacco. Transcriptional activation of the PR-2 promoter was investigated in response to inoculation with tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), after treatment of leaves with salicylic acid (SA), and in specific tissues during the normal development of healthy plants. In TMV-inoculated transgenic plants, GUS activity was induced locally around necrotic viral lesions and systemically in uninoculated leaves. GUS activity was also induced by treatment of leaves with SA. The chimeric gene was expressed in floral organs of healthy plants and in newly germinated seedlings. Analyses of a series of 5' deletions of the glucanase promoter indicated that the cis-acting elements necessary for induction by all these signals are localized in the region between -321 bp and -607 bp upstream of the transcription start site.