Abstract
The phytochrome gene (phyCer) of the moss Ceratodon purpureus was isolated and characterized. phyCer is composed of three coding exons: exon I of 2035 bp, exon II of 300 bp and exon III of 1574 bp. The deduced polypeptide encoded by exon I and II exhibits substantial sequence homology to the conserved NH2-terminal chromophore domain of known phytochromes. In contrast, the COOH-terminal polypeptide encoded by exon III shows no sequence homology to any phytochrome molecule. phyCer most likely represents a single-copy gene and is expressed in a light-independent manner. From the DNA sequence analysis it can be deduced that the PhyCer polypeptide is composed of 1303 amino acids (including the starting Met) which predicts a molecular mass for PhyCer of 145 kDa. The polypeptide encoded in exon III exhibits striking homology within the 300 carboxy-terminal amino acids to the catalytic domain of protein kinases. The carboxy terminus of PhyCer was found to be most homologous to protein-tyrosine kinases of Dictyostelium discoideum and to the products of retroviral oncogenes which belong to the Raf-Mos serine/threonine kinase family. From the hydropathy profile PhyCer appears to be a soluble protein. The predicted structure suggests that PhyCer represents a soluble light-sensor protein kinase which is linked with a cellular phosphorylating cascade.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Aneeta AD, Sopory SK: Regulation of protein phosphorylation by phytochrome. Photochem Photobiol 55: 465–468 (1992).
Ausubel FM, Brent R, Kinston RE, Moore DD, Seidmann IG, Smith JA, Struhl K: Current Protocols in Molecular Biology. Wiley, New York (1988).
Berget SM: Are U4 small nuclear ribonucleoproteins involved in polyadenylation. Nature 309: 179–182 (1984).
Cantley LC, Auger KR, Carpenter C, Duckworth B, Graziani A, Kapeller R, Soltoff S: Oncogenes and signal transduction. Cell 64: 281–302 (1991).
Christensen AH, Quail PH: Structure and expression of a maize phytochrome-encoding gene. Gene 85: 381–390 (1989).
Davis RW, Thomas M, Cameron J, John TP, Scherer S, Padgett RA: Rapid DNA isolation for enzymatic and hybridization analysis. Meth Enzymol 65: 404–411 (1980).
Dean C, Tamaki S, Dunsmuir P, Favreau M, Katayama C, Dooner H, Bedbrook J: mRNA transcripts of several plant genes are polyadenylated at multiple sites. Nucl Acids Res 14: 2229–2240 (1986).
Deforce L, Tomizawa K-I, Ito N, Farrens D, Song P-S, Furuya M: In vitro assembly of apophytochrome and apophytochrome deletion mutants expressed in yeast with phycocyanobilin. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 88: 10392–10396 (1991).
Dehesh K, Tepperman J, Christensen AH, Quail PH: phyB is evolutionarily conserved and constitutively expressed in rice seedling shoots. Mol Gen Genet 225: 305–313 (1991).
Devereux J, Haeberli P, Smithies O: A comprehensive set of sequence analysis programs for the VAX. Nucl Acids Res 12: 387–395 (1984).
DeVries S, Hodge H, Bisseling T: Isolation of total and polysomal RNA from plant tissues. In: Gelvin SB, Schilperoort RA, Verma DPS (eds) Plant Molecular Biology Manual B6, pp. 1–13. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht (1988).
Feng DF, Doolittle RF: Progressive sequence alignment as a prerequisite to correct phylogenetic trees. J Mol Evol 25: 351–360 (1987).
Frohmann MA, Dush HK, Martin GR: Rapid production of full-length cDNAs from rare transcripts: Amplification using a single gene-specific oligonucleotide primer. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 85: 8998–9002 (1988).
Grimm R, Gast D, Rüdiger W: Characterization of a protein-kinase activity associated with phytochrome from etiolated oat (Avena sativa L.) seedlings. Planta 178: 199–206 (1989).
Häder D-P, Poff KL: Light-induced accumulations of Dictiostelium discoideum amoebae. Photochem Photobiol 29: 1157–1162 (1979).
Hanks SK, Quinn AM: Protein kinase catalytic domain sequence data base: Identification of conserved features of primary structure and classification of family members. Meth Enzymol 200: 38–62 (1991).
Hanks SK, Quinn AM, Hunter T: The protein kinase family: Conserved features and deduced phylogeny of the catalytic domains. Science 241: 42–52 (1988).
Hartmann E, Klingenberg B, Bauer L: Phytochrome mediated phototropism in protonemata of the moss Ceratodon purpureus BRID. Photobiology 38: 599–603 (1983).
Hartmann E, Weber M: Storage of the phytochrome-mediated phototropic stimulus of moss protonema tip cells. Planta 175: 39–49 (1988).
Hartmann E, Weber M: Photomodulation of protonema development. In Chopra RN, Bhatla SC (eds) Bryophyte Development: Physiology and Biochemistry, pp. 17–54. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL (1990).
Hershey HP, Barker RF, Idler KB, Murray MG, Quail PH: Nucleotide sequence and characterization of a gene encoding the phytochrome polypeptide from Avena. Gene 61: 339–348 (1987).
Hershey HP, Colbert JT, Lissemore JL, Barker RF, Quail PH: Molecular cloning of cDNA for Avena phytochrome. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 81: 2332–2336 (1984).
Kay SA, Keith B, Shinozaki, Chye M-L, Chua N-H: The rice phytochrome gene: Structure autoregulated expression and binding of GT-1 to a conserved site in the 5′ upstream region. Plant Cell 1: 351–360 (1989).
Kendrick RE, Kronenberg GHM: Photomorphogenesis in Plants. Martinus Nijhoff, Dordrecht (1986).
McLauchlan J, Gaffney D, Whitton JL, Clements JB: The consensus sequence YGTGTTYY located downstream from the AATAAA signal is required for efficient formation of mRNA 3′ terminus. Nucl Acids Res 13: 1347–1368 (1985).
Mcmichael RW, Lagarias JC: Phosphopeptide mapping of Avena phytochrome phosphorylated by protein kinases in vitro. Biochemistry 29: 3872–3878 (1990).
Otto V, Schaefer E: Rapid phytochrome-controlled protein phosphorylation and dephosphorylation in Avena sativa L. Plant Cell Physiol 29: 1115–1121 (1988).
Quail PH: Phytochrome: A light-activated molecular switch that regulates plant gene expression. Annu Rev Genet 25: 389–409 (1991).
Rüdiger W, Thümmler F: Phytochrome in lower plants. In: Thomas B, Johnson CB (eds) Phytochrome Propertics and Biological Action, pp. 58–70. NATO ASI Series, Vol H 50, Springer-Verlag, Berlin/Heidelberg (1991).
Rüdiger W, Thümmler F: The visual pigment of plants. Angew Chemie Int Ed Engl 30: 1216–1228 (1991).
Rüdiger W, Thümmler F, Cmiel E, Schneider S: Chromophore structure of the physiologically active (Pfr) of phytochrome. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 80: 6244–6248 (1983).
Sanger F, Nicklen S, Coulson AR: DNA sequencing with chain-terminating inhibitors. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 74: 5463–5467 (1977).
Sato N: Nucleotide sequence and expression of the phytochrome gene in Pisum sativum: Differential regulation by light of multiple transcripts. Plant Mol Biol 11: 697–710 (1988).
Sato N: Nucleotide sequence of a pseudogene for pea phytochrome reminiscent of an incorrect splicing event. Nucl Acids Res 18: 3632 (1990).
Saxena PK, Rashid A: Development of gametophores from isolated protoplasts of the moss Anoectangium thosonii Mitt. Protoplasma 103: 401–406 (1980).
Schneider-Poetsch HAW, Braun B: Proposal on the nature of phytochrome action based on the C-terminal sequences of phytochrome. J Plant Physiol 137: 576–580 (1991).
Schneider-Poetsch HAW, Braun B, Marx S, Schaumburg A: Phytochromes and bacterial sensor proteins are related by structural and functional homologies: Hypothesis on phytochorome-mediated signal transduction. FEBS Lett 281: 245–249 (1991).
Sharrock RA, Lissemore IJ Quail PH: Nucleotide and amino acid sequence of a Cucurbita phytochrome cDNA: identification of conserved features by comparison with Avena phytochrome. Gene 47: 287–295 (1986).
Sharrock RA, Quail PH: Novel phytochrome sequences in Arabidopsis thaliana: Structure, evolution and differental expression of a plant regulatory photoreceptor family. Genes Devel 3: 1745–1757 (1989).
Short TW, Briggs WR: Characterization of a rapid blue light-mediated change in detectable phosphorylation of a plasma membrane protein from etiolated pea (Pisum sativum L.) seedlings. Plant Physiol 92: 179–185 (1990).
Singh BR, Song P-S: Phytochrome and protein phosphorylation. Photochem Photobiol 52: 249–254 (1990).
Stock JB, Stock AM, Mottonen JM: Signal transduction in bacteria. Nature 344: 395–400 (1990).
Tan JL, Spudich JA: Developmentally regulated proteintyrosine kinase genes in Dictyostelium discoideum. Mol Cell Biol 10: 3578–3583 (1990).
Thomas B, Johnson C: Phytochrome Properties, Biological Action, Springer-Verlag, Berlin/Heidelberg (1991).
Thümmler F, Beetz A: Rüdiger W: Phytochrome in lower plants: Detection and partial sequence of a phytochrome gene in the moss Ceratodon purpureus using the polymerase chain reaction. FEBS Lett 275: 125–129 (1990).
Thümmler F, Rüdiger W, Cmiel E: Chromopeptides from phytochrome and phycoianin. NMR studies of the Pfr and Pr chromophores of phytochrome and E, Z-isomeric chromophores of phycocyanin. Z Naturforsch 38C: 359–368 (1983).
Thümmler F, Schuster H, Bonenberger H: The expression of the oat phyA gene in the moss Ceratodon purpureus. Photochem Photobiol (in press).
Wada M, Kadota A: Photomorphogenesis in lower plants. Annu Rev Plant Physiol 40: 169–191 (1989).
Wong Y-S, Cheng H-C, Walsh DA, Lagarias JC: Phosphorylation of Avena phytochrome in vitro as a probe of light-induced conformational changes. J Biol Chem 261: 12089–12097 (1986).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Thümmler, F., Dufner, M., Kreisl, P. et al. Molecular cloning of a novel phytochrome gene of the moss Ceratodon purpureus which encodes a putative light-regulated protein kinase. Plant Mol Biol 20, 1003–1017 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00028888
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00028888