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Molecular and Cellular Biology, December 1999, p. 8113-8122, Vol. 19, No. 12
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular
Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4H7, Canada
Received 3 May 1999/Returned for modification 9 July 1999/Accepted 13 September 1999
To investigate the transcriptional apparatus in wheat mitochondria,
mitochondrial extracts were subjected to column chromatography and
protein fractions were analyzed by in vitro transcription and mobility
shift assays. Fractions eluting from DEAE-Sephacel between 0.2 and 0.3 M KCl displayed DNA-binding activity and supported specific
transcription initiated from a wheat cox2 promoter. The active DEAE-Sephacel pool was further resolved by chromatography on
phosphocellulose. Fractions that exhibited DNA-binding activity and
that stimulated both specific and nonspecific transcription in vitro
were highly enriched in a 63-kDa protein (p63). From peptide sequence
obtained from purified p63, a cDNA encoding the protein was assembled.
The predicted amino acid sequence (612 amino acid residues, 69 kDa)
contains a basic N-terminal targeting sequence expected to direct
transport of the protein into mitochondria. The p63 sequence also
features an acidic domain characteristic of transcriptional activation
factors, as well as sequence blocks displaying limited similarity to
positionally equivalent regions in sigma factors from eubacteria
related to mitochondria. Recombinant p63 possesses DNA-binding
activity, exhibiting an affinity for the core cox2 promoter
element and upstream regions in gel shift assays and having the ability
to enhance specific transcription in vitro. Transcripts encoding p63
are expressed at an early stage in the germination of isolated wheat
embryos, in a temporal pattern parallelling that of newly synthesized
precursors of cox2, a mitochondrial gene. Taken together,
these data suggest a role for p63 in transcription in wheat mitochondria.
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Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Characterization of a DNA-Binding Protein
Implicated in Transcription in Wheat Mitochondria
and
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Sir Charles Tupper Medical
Building, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4H7, Canada.
Phone: (902) 494-2521. Fax: (902) 494-1355. E-mail:
M.W.Gray{at}Dal.Ca.
Present address: Laboratory of Plant Biotechnology, Department of
Crop Breeding, Chugoku National Agricultural Experimental Station,
Fukuyama, Hiroshima 721-8514, Japan.
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