Skip to main content
Nucleic Acids Research logoLink to Nucleic Acids Research
. 1986 May 27;14(10):4051–4064. doi: 10.1093/nar/14.10.4051

Structure and expression of three light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b-binding protein genes in Arabidopsis thaliana.

L S Leutwiler, E M Meyerowitz, E M Tobin
PMCID: PMC339845  PMID: 3012462

Abstract

The genome of Arabidopsis thaliana is exceedingly small, in part because it lacks the large middle repetitive DNA component characteristic of other plants. In this paper we have characterized a member of the low copy DNA component: the gene family for the light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b-protein. This gene family is unusual in that it contains far fewer members than the 7-16 coding sequences for this protein found in other plants. We used cross-hybridization with a Lemna gene encoding a light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b-protein to isolate 3 genes from Arabidopsis, all of which are clustered on an 11-kb genomic clone. Southern blot analysis suggests that there is a fourth related gene in Arabidopsis. Sequence analysis of the three genes demonstrates that within the translated region the nucleic acid sequence homology is 96%, the deduced amino acid sequence of the mature proteins is identical for the three genes, and two of the genes have a high degree of sequence homology in both their 5' and 3' immediate flanking regions. The genes have regulatory sequences typical of eukaryotic genes upstream of the translation start sites. However, not all of these genes are equally expressed in plants grown under normal light-dark conditions.

Full text

PDF
4051

Images in this article

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bennett M. D., Smith J. B. Nuclear dna amounts in angiosperms. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1976 May 27;274(933):227–274. doi: 10.1098/rstb.1976.0044. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Benton W. D., Davis R. W. Screening lambdagt recombinant clones by hybridization to single plaques in situ. Science. 1977 Apr 8;196(4286):180–182. doi: 10.1126/science.322279. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Broglie R., Bellemare G., Bartlett S. G., Chua N. H., Cashmore A. R. Cloned DNA sequences complementary to mRNAs encoding precursors to the small subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase and a chlorophyll a/b binding polypeptide. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 Dec;78(12):7304–7308. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.12.7304. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cashmore A. R. Structure and expression of a pea nuclear gene encoding a chlorophyll a/b-binding polypeptide. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 May;81(10):2960–2964. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.10.2960. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Chang C., Meyerowitz E. M. Molecular cloning and DNA sequence of the Arabidopsis thaliana alcohol dehydrogenase gene. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1986 Mar;83(5):1408–1412. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.5.1408. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Coruzzi G., Broglie R., Cashmore A., Chua N. H. Nucleotide sequences of two pea cDNA clones encoding the small subunit of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase and the major chlorophyll a/b-binding thylakoid polypeptide. J Biol Chem. 1983 Feb 10;258(3):1399–1402. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Dunsmuir P., Smith S. M., Bedbrook J. The major chlorophyll a/b binding protein of petunia is composed of several polypeptides encoded by a number of distinct nuclear genes. J Mol Appl Genet. 1983;2(3):285–300. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Dunsmuir P. The petunia chlorophyll a/b binding protein genes: a comparison of Cab genes from different gene families. Nucleic Acids Res. 1985 Apr 11;13(7):2503–2518. doi: 10.1093/nar/13.7.2503. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Karlin-Neumann G. A., Kohorn B. D., Thornber J. P., Tobin E. M. A chlorophyll a/b-protein encoded by a gene containing an intron with characteristics of a transposable element. J Mol Appl Genet. 1985;3(1):45–61. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Karlin-Neumann G. A., Tobin E. M. Transit peptides of nuclear-encoded chloroplast proteins share a common amino acid framework. EMBO J. 1986 Jan;5(1):9–13. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1986.tb04170.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Kohorn B. D., Harel E., Chitnis P. R., Thornber J. P., Tobin E. M. Functional and mutational analysis of the light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b protein of thylakoid membranes. J Cell Biol. 1986 Mar;102(3):972–981. doi: 10.1083/jcb.102.3.972. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Lamppa G. K., Morelli G., Chua N. H. Structure and developmental regulation of a wheat gene encoding the major chlorophyll a/b-binding polypeptide. Mol Cell Biol. 1985 Jun;5(6):1370–1378. doi: 10.1128/mcb.5.6.1370. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Loening U. E. The determination of the molecular weight of ribonucleic acid by polyacrylamide-gel electrophresis. The effects of changes in conformation. Biochem J. 1969 Jun;113(1):131–138. doi: 10.1042/bj1130131. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Maniatis T., Hardison R. C., Lacy E., Lauer J., O'Connell C., Quon D., Sim G. K., Efstratiadis A. The isolation of structural genes from libraries of eucaryotic DNA. Cell. 1978 Oct;15(2):687–701. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(78)90036-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Maxam A. M., Gilbert W. Sequencing end-labeled DNA with base-specific chemical cleavages. Methods Enzymol. 1980;65(1):499–560. doi: 10.1016/s0076-6879(80)65059-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Meyerowitz E. M., Hogness D. S. Molecular organization of a Drosophila puff site that responds to ecdysone. Cell. 1982 Jan;28(1):165–176. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(82)90386-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Meyerowitz E. M., Martin C. H. Adjacent chromosomal regions can evolve at very different rates: evolution of the Drosophila 68C glue gene cluster. J Mol Evol. 1984;20(3-4):251–264. doi: 10.1007/BF02104731. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Meyerowitz E. M., Pruitt R. E. Arabidopsis thaliana and Plant Molecular Genetics. Science. 1985 Sep 20;229(4719):1214–1218. doi: 10.1126/science.229.4719.1214. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Mullet J. E. The amino acid sequence of the polypeptide segment which regulates membrane adhesion (grana stacking) in chloroplasts. J Biol Chem. 1983 Aug 25;258(16):9941–9948. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Sanger F., Coulson A. R., Barrell B. G., Smith A. J., Roe B. A. Cloning in single-stranded bacteriophage as an aid to rapid DNA sequencing. J Mol Biol. 1980 Oct 25;143(2):161–178. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(80)90196-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Schmidt G. W., Bartlett S. G., Grossman A. R., Cashmore A. R., Chua N. H. Biosynthetic pathways of two polypeptide subunits of the light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b protein complex. J Cell Biol. 1981 Nov;91(2 Pt 1):468–478. doi: 10.1083/jcb.91.2.468. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Nucleic Acids Research are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES