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Gene sequence for the 9 kDa component of Photosystem II from the cyanobacterium Phormidium laminosum indicates similarities between cyanobacterial and other leader sequences

Molecular and General Genetics MGG volume 216, pages 334–339 (1989)Cite this article

Summary

A 9 kDa polypeptide which is loosely attached to the inner surface of the thylakoid membrane and is important for the oxygen-evolving activity of Photosystem II in the thermophilic cyanobacterium Phormidium laminosum has been purified, a partial amino acid sequence obtained and its gene cloned and sequenced. The derived amino acid sequence indicates that the 9 kDa polypeptide is initially synthesised with an N-terminal leader sequence of 44 amino acids to direct it across the thylakoid membrane. The leader sequence consists of a positively charged N-terminal region, a long hydrophobic region and a typical cleavage site. These features have analogous counterparts in the “thylakoid-transfer domain” of lumenal polypeptides from chloroplasts of higher plants. These findings support the view of the proposed function of this domain in the two-stage processing model for import of lumenal, nuclear-encoded polypeptides. In addition, there is striking primary sequence homology between the leader sequences of the 9 kDa polypeptide and those of alkaline phosphatase (from the periplasmic space of Escherichia coli) and, particularly in the region of the cleavage site, the 16 kDa polypeptide of the oxygen-evolving apparatus in the thylakoid lumen of spinach chloroplasts.

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Author notes

  1. A. C. Stewart

    Present address: Elsevier Publications, 68 Hills Road, CB2 1LA, Cambridge, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, CB2 1QW, Cambridge, UK

    T. P. Wallace, A. C. Stewart & C. J. Howe

  2. Department of Biochemistry, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT, Leeds, UK

    D. Pappin

Authors
  1. T. P. Wallace
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  2. A. C. Stewart
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  3. D. Pappin
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  4. C. J. Howe
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Communicated by D.M. Lonsdale

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Wallace, T.P., Stewart, A.C., Pappin, D. et al. Gene sequence for the 9 kDa component of Photosystem II from the cyanobacterium Phormidium laminosum indicates similarities between cyanobacterial and other leader sequences. Mol Gen Genet 216, 334–339 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00334373

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00334373

Key words

  • Cyanobacteria
  • Evolution
  • Thylakoid
  • Leader sequence
  • Photosystem II