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Vicilin-like seed storage proteins in the gymnosperm interior spruce (Picea glauca/engelmanii)

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Abstract

A seed storage protein cDNA was characterized from a library of interior spruce (Picea glauca/engelmanii complex) cotyledonary stage somatic embryos. The deduced amino acid sequence predicts a 448 amino acid (50 kDa) polypeptide with 28–38% identity with angiosperm vicilin-like 7S globulins. XXC/G codon usage is low (47%) relative to monocot angiosperms while pairwise comparisons show that spruce, monocot, and dicot vicilins are approximately equal in amino acid divergence. Although small by comparison, the spruce vicilin contains an N terminal hydrophilic region characteristic of angiosperm ‘large’ vicilins. Genomic Southern blotting predicts that the cDNA is encoded by a gene family.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forest Biotechnology Centre, B.C. Research Corporation, V6S 2L2, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Craig H. Newton, Barry S. Flinn & Benjamin C. S. Sutton

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  1. Craig H. Newton
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  2. Barry S. Flinn
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  3. Benjamin C. S. Sutton
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Newton, C.H., Flinn, B.S. & Sutton, B.C.S. Vicilin-like seed storage proteins in the gymnosperm interior spruce (Picea glauca/engelmanii). Plant Mol Biol 20, 315–322 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00014500

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00014500

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