Cellular localization of a plant protein PSAM 1 in arbuscular mycorrhizas of Pisum sativum

Psam 1 is a single-copy gene which is activated during early plant-fungal interaction in wild-type pea inoculated with Glomus mosseae and which codes for PSAM 1, a putative protein of 108 amino acids. A synthetic peptide was designed in an antigenic region of this protein to produce a polyclonal antibody against PSAM 1 and to investigate its cellular localization. Western blot analysis revealed that a polypeptide of about 14.5 kDa accumulated more in mycorrhizal than non-mycorrhizal pea roots. The PSAM 1 antigen was immunolocated in planta in arbuscule-containing cells of mycorrhizal roots and especially in the cytoplasm surrounding young arbuscules in cortical cells, which suggests that its accumulation is somehow related to the symbiotic state of these cells. Received: 27 June 1998 / Accepted: 27 July 1998