A novel chlorophyll a/b binding (Cab) protein gene from petunia which encodes the lower molecular weightCabprecursor protein

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The 16 petunia Cabgenes which have been characterized are all closely related at the nucleotide sequence level and they encode Cabprecursor polypeptides which are similar in sequence and length. Here we describe a novel petunia Cabgene which encodes a unique Cabprecursor protein. This protein is a member of the smallest class of Cabprecursor proteins for which no gene has previously been assigned in petunia or any other species. The features of this Cabprecursor protein are that it is shorter by 2–3 amino acids than the formerly characterized Cabprecursors, its transit peptide sequence is unrelated, and the mature polypeptide is significantly diverged at the functionally important N terminus from other petunia Cabproteins. Gene structure also discriminates this gene which is the only intron containing Cabgene in petunia genomic DNA.