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Globulins are the main seed storage proteins in Brachypodium distachyon

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Abstract

Brachypodium distachyon is being developed as a model system to study temperate cereals and forage grasses. We have begun to investigate its utility to understand seed development and grain filling by identifying the major seed storage proteins in a diploid accession Bd21. With the use of ID SDS–PAGE and mass spectrometry we detected seven major storage protein bands, six of which were identified as globulins. A subset of the major seed proteins isolated from three hexaploid accessions, Bd4, Bd14 and Bd17 were also identified as globulins. Several Brachypodium cDNAs clones encoding globulin were completely sequenced. Two types of globulin genes were identified, Bd.glo1 and Bd.glo2, which are similar to maize 7S and oat 12S globulins, respectively. The derived polypeptide sequences of the globulins contain a typical signal peptide sequence in their polypeptide N-termini and two cupin domains. Bd.glo1 is encoded by a single copy gene, whereas, Bd.glo2 belongs to a gene family.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Tiffany Chui and Xiaoyang Liu and Dr. Naxin Huo, for excellent technical assistance. The authors would also like to thank Drs. Grace Chen and Michael Gitt, and Gerard Lazo for the critical reading of the manuscript. Specific product name mentioned in this article does not constitute an endorsement and does not imply a recommendation over other suitable products. The USDA-ARS CRIS Project 5325-21000-011 funded this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Western Regional Research Center, USDA-ARS, Albany, CA, 94710, USA

    Debbie L. Laudencia-Chingcuanco & William H. Vensel

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  1. Debbie L. Laudencia-Chingcuanco
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  2. William H. Vensel
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Correspondence to Debbie L. Laudencia-Chingcuanco.

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Communicated by J. W. Snape.

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Laudencia-Chingcuanco, D.L., Vensel, W.H. Globulins are the main seed storage proteins in Brachypodium distachyon . Theor Appl Genet 117, 555–563 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-008-0799-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-008-0799-y

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