Abstract
The Opaque-2 (O2) gene from maize encodes a transcriptional activator of the b-ZIP class. We have isolated and characterized a gene from sorghum, related in sequence to the O2 gene from maize. A single copy of the gene is present in sorghum. Both genomic and cDNA sequences of the O2-related sorghum gene were determined. The sequence is highly homologous to maize O2 both in the promoter and in the coding region. The most closely related sequences contain the b-ZIP domain with only 11 amino acid substitutions in a total of 122 residues. In transient expression assays, the sorghum O2-related coding sequence, expressed from a CaMV 35S promoter, activates expression from the maize b-32 promoter as effectively as that obtained with the maize O2 sequence.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Birnstiel ML, Busslinger M, Strub K: Transcription termination and 3′ processing: The end is in site. Cell 41: 349–359 (1985).
Breathnach R, Chambon P: Organization and expression of eukaryotic split genes coding for proteins. Annu Rev Biochem 50: 349–384 (1981).
DeRose RT, Ma DP, Kwon IS, Hasnain SE, Klassy RC, Hall TC: Characterization of the kafirin gene family from sorghum reveals extensive homology with zein from maize. Plant Mol Biol 12: 245–256 (1989).
Devereux J, Haeberli P, Smithies O: A compressive set of sequence analysis programs for the VAX. Nucl Acids Res 12: 387–395 (1984).
Frischauf AM, Lehrach H, Poustka A, Murray N: Lambda replacement vectors carrying polylinker sequences. J Mol Biol 170: 827–842 (1983).
Garnier J, Dsguthorpe DJ, Robson B: Analysis of the accuracy and implications of simple methods for predicting the secondary structure of globular proteins. J Mol Biol 120: 97–120 (1978).
Hartings H, Maddaloni M, Lazzaroni N, Di Fonzo, Motto M, Salamini F, Thompson RD: The O2 gene which regulates zein deposition in maize endosperm encodes a protein with structural homologies to transcriptional activators. EMBO J 8: 2795–2801 (1989).
Hartings H, Lazzaroni N, Ajmone Marsan P, Aragay A, Thompson RD, Salamini F, Di Fonzo N, Palau J, Motto M: The b-32 protein from maize endosperm: characterization of genomic sequences encoding two alternative central domains. Plant Mol Biol 14: 1031–1040 (1990).
Heidecker G, Chaudhuri S, Messing J: Highly clustered zein genes sequences reveal evolutionary history of the multigene family. Genomics 10: 719–732 (1991).
Hinnebusch AG: Involvement of an initiation factor and protein phosphorylation in translational control of GCN4 mRNA. Trends Biochem Sci 15: 148–152 (1990).
Jefferson RA: Assaying chimeric genes in plants: the GUS gene fusion system. Plant Mol Biol Rep 5: 387–405 (1987).
Jones RA, Larkins BA, Tsai CY: Storage protein synthesis in maize. II. Reduced synthesis of a major component by the opaque-2 mutant of maize. Plant Physiol 59: 525–529 (1977).
Kodrzycki R, Boston RS, Larkins BA: The opaque-2 mutation of maize differentially reduces zein gene transcription. Plant Cell 1: 105–114 (1989).
Landschultz WH, Johnston PF, McKnight SL: The leucine zipper: a hypotetical structure common to a new class of DNA binding proteins. Science 240: 1759–1764 (1988).
Lohmer S, Maddaloni M, Motto M, Di Fonzo N, Hartings H, Salamini F, Thompson RD: The maize regulatory locus opaque-2 encodes for a DNA-binding protein which activates the transcription of the b-32 gene. EMBO J 10: 617–624 (1991).
Lohmer S, Motto M, Maddaloni M, Salamini F, Thompson RD: Translation of the mRNA of the maize transcriptional activator Opaque-2 is inhibited by upstream open reading frames present in the leader sequence. Plant Cell 5: 65–73 (1993).
Maddaloni M, Di Fonzo N, Hartings H, Lazzaroni N, Salamini F, Thompson RD, Motto M: The sequence of the zein regulatory gene Opaque2 (O2) of Zea mays. Nucl Acids Res 89: 7532 (1989).
Maddaloni M, Barbieri L, Lohmer S, Motto M, Salamini F, Thompson RD: Characterization of an endospermspecific developmentally regulated protein synthesis inhibitor from maize seeds. J Genet Breed 45: 377–380 (1991).
Mauri I, Maddaloni M, Lohmer S, Motto M, Salamini F, Thompson RD, Martegani E: Functional expression of the transcriptional activator opaque 2 of Zea mays in transformed yeast. Mol Gen Genet 241: 319–326 (1993).
Mertz ET, Bates LS, Nelson OE: Mutant gene that changes protein composition and increases lysine content of maize endosperm. Science 145: 279–280 (1964).
Motto M, Maddaloni M, Ponziani G, Brembilla M, Marotta R, Di Fonzo N, Soave C, Thompson RD, Salamini F: Molecular cloning of o2-m5 allele of Zea mays using transposon marking; Mol Gen Genet 212: 488–494 (1988).
Motto M, Di Fonzo N, Hartings H, Maddaloni M, Salamini F, Soave C, Thompson RD, Salamini F: Regulatory gene affecting maize storage protein synthesis. Oxford Surv Plant Mol Cell Biol 6: 87–114 (1989).
Mount SM: A catalogue of splice junction sequences. Nucl Acids Res 10: 459–472 (1982).
Sambrook J, Fritsch EF, Maniatis T: Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, 2nd ed. Cold Spring Harbor, Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY (1989).
Schmidt RJ, Burr FA, Burr B: Transposon tagging and molecular analysis of the maize regulatory locus opaque-2. Science 238: 960–963 (1987).
Schmidt RJ, Burr FA, Aukerman MJ, Burr B: Maize regulatory gene opaque2 encodes a protein with a ‘leucinezipper’ motif that binds to zein DNA. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 97: 46–50 (1990).
Schmidt RJ, Ketudat M, Aukerman MJ, Koschek: Opaque-2 is a transcriptional activator that recognizes a specific target site in 22 kD zein genes. Plant Cell 4: 689–700 (1992).
Whitkus R, Doebley J, Lee M: Comparative genome mapping of sorghum and maize. Genetics 132: 1119–1130 (1992).
Yamamoto KR, Alberts BM, Benzinger R, Lawhorne L, Treiber G: Rapid bacteriophage sedimentation in the presence of polythylene glycol and its application to largescale virus purification. Virology 40: 734–740 (1970).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pirovano, L., Lanzini, S., Hartings, H. et al. Structural and functional analysis of an Opaque-2-related gene from sorghum. Plant Mol Biol 24, 515–523 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00024119
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00024119