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Detection and abundance of mRNA and protein encoded by transposable element Activator (Ac) in maize

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Summary

The 3.5 kb long mRNA of the maize transposable element Ac contains an open reading frame (ORFa) which encodes a polypeptide of 807 amino acids, the putative transposase of Ac. The Ac mRNA is a rare transcript: we now estimate the fraction of Ac mRNA in wx-m7::Ac seedlings to be 2–13 × 10−5 of the polyA RNA. Assuming that maize cells contain similar amounts of polyA RNA as another monocot (0.16 pg/cell), this is equivalent to 1.5–10 transcripts in each cell. A protein with an apparent molecular weight of 112 kDa is detected, by five antisera directed against different segments of ORFa, exclusively in nuclear extracts from Ac-containing maize. This protein is most likely the full-length Ac ORFa protein. We estimate its concentration to be in the range of 3 × 10− of the nuclear proteins, or about 1000 molecules per triploid endosperm cell containing one Ac element.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Genetik, Universität zu Köln, Weyertal 121, W-5000, Köln 41, Federal Republic of Germany

    Heidi Fußwinkel, Sylvia Schein, Ulrike Courage, Peter Starlinger & Reinhard Kunze

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  1. Heidi Fußwinkel
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  2. Sylvia Schein
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  3. Ulrike Courage
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  4. Peter Starlinger
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  5. Reinhard Kunze
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Communicated by H. Saedler

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Fußwinkel, H., Schein, S., Courage, U. et al. Detection and abundance of mRNA and protein encoded by transposable element Activator (Ac) in maize. Molec. Gen. Genet. 225, 186–192 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00269846

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00269846

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