Abstract
Regulation of expression of a 69-kDa glycoprotein which occurs abundantly in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) pollen tubes but is absent in ungerminated pollen has been studied in vitro by means of a coupled translation/glycosylation system with RNA isolated from various stages of pollen development. Pollen mRNA could be translated in a rabbit reticulocyte lysate and the products glycosylated with canine pancreatic microsomal membranes. The electrophoretic pattern of translation products obtained with pollen-tube RNA showed a prominent polypeptide with an apparent molecular mass of 58 kDa. In the presence of the canine pancreatic microsomal membranes this polypeptide was glycosylated, producing the 69-kDa glycoprotein. The presence of mRNA encoding the 58-kDa precursor polypeptide was also demonstrated in ungerminated pollen and in young mid-binucleate pollen isolated from anthers. Initiation of synthesis of the 69-kDa glycoprotein at the onset of pollen germination thus occurs through unmasking of the mRNA transcribed during pollen differentiation and stored during pollen maturation and dormancy in an inactive state.
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Abbreviations
- pI:
-
isoelectric point
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Štorchová, H., Čapková, V. & Tupý, J. A Nicotiana tabacum mRNA encoding a 69-kDa glycoprotein occurring abundantly in pollen tubes is transcribed but not translated during pollen development in the anthers. Planta 192, 441–445 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00198581
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00198581