ABSTRACT
The higher Basidiomycetes mushrooms produce a wide range of biologically active glycans, which have different chemical structures and different types of biological activity. The chapter focuses on the antiphytoviral properties of glycans of higher Basidiomycetes mushrooms on TMV-infection and their ability to induce virus resistance in plants. The different species of higher Basidiomycetes: Ganoderma lucidum, G. applanatum, G. adspersum, and Tremella mesenterica were screened for 162production of antiviral polysaccharides and the prolific producer was selected. It was established that the polysaccharide extracted from the culture broths of G. lucidum and G. applanatum have moderate antiviral activity and do not induce expressed plant resistance for the infection of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV). Glucuronoxylomannan (GXM), obtained from culture broth of the T. mesenterica, inhibits TMV infection and induces high virus resistance in tobacco plants.
Three glucan fractions (water, acid, and alkaline) were isolated from G. adspersum mycelium. Glucans, obtained with acid and alkali agents, were homogeneous with molecular masses of 48 and 70 kDa, respectively, whereas the fraction extracted with water was heterogeneous and contained macromolecular components: 95, 40, and 20 kDa. The most active against the TMV-infection glucan preparation was extracted with water, although the preparations obtained with acid and alkali also inhibited viral infection. Using the transmission oxidation of polysaccharides, it was noticed that G. adspersum glucan contains 1-3-linked glucose in the main chain, and in side chains monosaccharides are linked with other types of bonds. The obtained glucan, like GXM, induced the plant resistance to viruses, which was partially inhibited by actinomycin D and α-methyl-D-mannoside and depended on RNA synthesis in the plant DNA matrix, on the one hand, and specific protein-carbohydrate interaction on the other. The possibility of using glycans of higher Basidiomycetes mushrooms to create complex plant protection agents against viruses and other infectious diseases is discussed.
