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ARS Home » Plains Area » Lubbock, Texas » Cropping Systems Research Laboratory » Plant Stress and Germplasm Development Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #105242
Title: NUCLEOTIDE SEQUENCE OF A TRUNCATED CDNA (ACCESSION NO. AF093108) ENCODING AN H3-LIKE HISTONE PROTEIN FROM THE BRYOPHYTE TORTULA RURALIS

Author
item DUFF, R - SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIV
item Oliver, Melvin
item WOOD, ANDREW - SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIV

Submitted to: Plant Physiology Plant Gene Register Electronic Submission
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/25/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: This paper represents part of a study focused on genes involved in repair of cellular damage from a moss that has a natural tolerance to extreme water stress. The gene we have described in this report is for a protein whose function is central to the structural integrity of the DNA of plant genes (and all other higher order organisms), Histone H3. The sequence of this gene and the predicted protein are compared to Histone H# genes from other plants and also animals. Such comparisons not only identify the gene as being a Histone H3 gene but aid in the identification of important structural features of all Histone H3 genes. The identification of this gene is of importance for our studies into how some plants survive water stress.

Technical Abstract: In order to gain a more complete understanding of the genes involved in desiccation-tolerance, we recently characterized 152 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) derived from polysomal RNA from desiccated Tortula ruralis. The full double-stranded DNA sequence of one of the ESTs, designated pRNP49 was determined. Analysis of the deduced polypeptide encoded by pRNP49 demonstrated a high degree of overall identity to Histone H3 sequences isolated from vascular plants, including Lolium (100%), rice (97%) and maize (97%). Comparison of the nucleotide sequence to the same vascular plants demonstrated 84, 84, and 82% similarity, respectively. Like higher plants, the Tortula sequence is polyadenylated. This is in contrast to members of the algal group Chlorophyta, a group from which land plants are thought to be derived, which are not polyadenylated.