The primers used for the Q-PCR were as follows: for SpHtp1 5′-CGTCATCATCGGAGAAATCC-3′ (forward) and 5′-CGCTTTGTTCAAGTTGTTCC-3′ (reverse); for SpTub-b 5′-AGGAGATGTTCAAGCGCGTC-3′ (forward) and 5′-GATCGTTCATGTTGGACTCGGC-3′ (reverse). For analysis, a standard curve of a pool of the cDNA of all samples was included to normalize the transcript levels. Subsequent analysis was performed with lightcycler® 480 software release 1.5.0 (Roche), using the second derivative maximum method, which calculates and includes PCR efficiency according to Pfaffl (2001). Q-PCR analysis was performed GSK2118436 cell line with three technical replicates of four independent RNA isolations (biological

replicates). Statistically significant differences were determined by anova (P<0.05), followed by the Bonferroni post hoc multiple comparison. A 1406-bp fragment containing SpHtp1 and Selleckchem ABT-888 including flanking regions was amplified from genomic DNA by the primers 5′-GTTTGAATGGAGCAGCGTGCT-3′ (forward) and 5′-TACGATGAATTCTAATCGAATGTCGGGACGACCTGG-3′

(reverse) and subsequently sequenced. The obtained sequence was analysed for the start and the stop codon and the oomycete promoter region. For overexpression, a fragment of SpHtp1 was amplified, encoding for amino acids (aa) 24-198 lacking the putative N-terminal signal peptide and the C-terminal stop codon. The fragment was amplified by PCR from mycelial cDNA using KOD-Hot start DNA polymerase (Novagen) at an annealing temperature of 55 °C and in the presence of 3% DMSO. The primers used were 5′-GGGCGCATATGCGCATTCACCACCCGTTGACC-3′ (SpHtp124-198 forward) and 5′-CCGGGAATTCGGATCGAATGTCGGGACG-3′ (SpHtp124-198 reverse). The forward primer contained an NdeI and the reverse primer contained an EcoRI restriction site. The blunt end PCR-product was cloned into pETblue-2 (Novagen) and, after

NdeI and EcoRI digestion and gel purification, cloned into the NdeI- and EcoRI-digested PLEKHB2 vector pET21b (Novagen) in frame with the (His)6 tag. The resulting plasmid SpHtp124-198-(His)6 was checked by sequencing and transformed into Rosetta gami B Escherichia coli cells (DE3, pLys; Novagen). SpHtp124-198-(His)6-overexpressing cells were grown in Luria–Bertani media to an OD600 nm of 0.6–0.8 and induced with 1 mM IPTG for 6 h at 37 °C. Cells were centrifuged and the pellet was resuspended in 40 mL of 50 mM sodium phosphate (pH 7.1) and incubated with 250 U of benzonase (Sigma-Aldrich), two dissolved tablets of protease inhibitor (Roche) and 0.1 g lysozyme (Fluka). After a 30-min incubation on ice, the solution was French-pressed and diluted 1 : 5 in 25 mM sodium phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) before the soluble fraction was separated from the nonsoluble via centrifugation at 48 000 g for 1 h. The supernatant was applied to a Fractogel-EMD-SO3-column (Merck, 2 cm diameter × 15 cm) and washed with 10 volumes of 25 mM sodium phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) containing 25 mM potassium chloride.