harpinPSS-mediated HCD in sweet
pepper plants (Chen et al., 2000). The Hrap gene is widely distributed throughout a broad range of plant species, including
tobacco, Arabidopsis and rice. However, it has no appreciable
similarity to any known sequences. Sequence comparisons of
HRAP have shown that it contains a typical signal peptide
leading to secretion into extracellular matrices (Chen et al.,
1998). In addition, the transcriptional activity of the Hrap gene is
induced early during the incompatible interaction of sweet
pepper with P. syringae, indicating that HRAP is closely involved
in the plant defence mechanism (Chen et al., 2000)