Abstract
The trnK gene has been identified on a cloned plastid DNA fragment of potato (Solanum tuberosum cv Désirée). This gene codes for a tRNA-Lys and is interrupted by a 2.5-kb intron belonging to the group II organellar introns. In addition, this intervening sequence contains a long open reading frame potentially coding for a 509 amino-acid polypeptide (ORF509) related to mitochondrial intron-encoded maturases from fungi. The translational capacity of the trnK intron was first demonstrated in vitro in a prokaryotic DNA-directed expression system. In order to examine the expression of the intron in the potato plant, a synthetic peptide corresponding to the last nine amino acids of the predicted ORF509 product was used to raise antibodies. Westernblot experiments on chloroplast protein extracts, using a sensitive chemiluminescent detection system, identified polypeptides similar to in-vitro products. These results suggest that the trnK intron is expressed at the protein level in the plant. This is the first report of the in-vivo expression of an intron-encoded polypeptide in higher plant plastids.
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Communicated by J.-D. Rochaix
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du Jardin, P., Portetelle, D., Harvengt, L. et al. Expression of intron-encoded maturase-like polypeptides in potato chloroplasts. Curr Genet 25, 158–163 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00309542
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00309542