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Estimation of ubiquitin and ubiquitin mRNA content in dark senescing wheat leaves

  • Original Papers
  • Published:
Biologia Plantarum

Abstract

Wheat leaves(Triticum aestivum L. cv. San Agustin INTA) were detached at the moment they had reached maximum expansion, put in tubes containing water and left in darkness. Under these conditions, leaf protein content decreased mainly as consequence of an increased rate of breakdown. In the range of 0 to 72 h after detachment, western blot analysis of leaf protein extracts displayed both similar proportions of total protein and quality of ubiquitin conjugates. Northern blot analysis of leaf RNA extracts revealed a 1.6 kb ubiquitin mRNA transcript which increased 3.5-fold after 48 h of treatment. Thus wheat leaves maintain both their ability for the ubiquitination of proteins and the transcription of ubiquitin mRNA at stages of senescence in which rates of protein breakdown are increased. The results suggest that the ubiquitin-dependent proteolytic pathway contributes to leaf protein breakdown during senescence

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Abbreviations

IgG:

immunoglobulin G

SSPE:

sodium chloride-sodium phosphate-EDTA

TBST:

Tris-buffered saline-Tween

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad National de Mar del Plata, 7600 Mar del Plata, CC 1245, Argentina

    M. L. Pinedo, S. M. Goicoechea, L. Lamattina & R. D. Conde

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  1. M. L. Pinedo
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  2. S. M. Goicoechea
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  3. L. Lamattina
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  4. R. D. Conde
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Additional information

Acknowledgments: This work was supported by grants from the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Técnicas de Argentina, Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas de la Provincia de Buenos Aires and Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. We thank Eliseo Bnto del Pino, Alicia Cardoso, Fabiana Gastelaars and Edgardo Poskus for helping in different experiments detailed in this work.

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Pinedo, M.L., Goicoechea, S.M., Lamattina, L. et al. Estimation of ubiquitin and ubiquitin mRNA content in dark senescing wheat leaves. Biol Plant 38, 321–328 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02896657

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02896657

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