Structure and expression of the maize gene encoding the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase isozyme involved in C4 photosynthesis

We have determined the structure of the maize (Zea mays L. subsp. mays line B73) nuclear gene encoding the phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) carboxylase isozyme involved in C4 photosynthesis. The gene is 5.3 kb long and has ten exons that range in size from 85 to 999 bp. The nine introns vary from 97 to 872...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPlant molecular biology Vol. 12; no. 5; pp. 579 - 589
Main Authors Hudspeth, R.L, Grula, J.W
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Netherlands 01.05.1989
Subjects
alleles
amino acid sequences
exons
flanking regions
gene expression
genes
genetic variation
hulls
introns
leaves
messenger RNA
molecular sequence data
nucleotide sequences
phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase
repetitive sequences
restriction mapping
tassels
Zea mays
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Summary:We have determined the structure of the maize (Zea mays L. subsp. mays line B73) nuclear gene encoding the phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) carboxylase isozyme involved in C4 photosynthesis. The gene is 5.3 kb long and has ten exons that range in size from 85 to 999 bp. The nine introns vary from 97 to 872 bp. The sequence of 663 bp of 5'-flanking and 205 bp of 3'-flanking DNA is reported along with the entire gene sequence. Several short repetitive sequences were found in the 5'-flanking DNA that have characteristics similar to elements important in the light regulation of pea genes encoding the small subunit of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase. In addition, some 5'-flanking sequence similarities were found in a comparison with other light-regulated genes from maize and wheat. The level of DNA sequence variation among different PEP carboxylase alleles is similar to the allelic variation observed for several other maize nuclear genes. The data suggest modem maize varieties have retained much of the genetic variation present in their ancestral forms. Finally, accumulation of transcripts encoding the PEP carboxylase isozyme involved in C4 photosynthesis is quite high in several structures besides leaves, including inner leaf sheaths, tassels and husks. This indicates that expression of this gene is not leaf-specific and may not necessarily be coupled to the development of Kranz anatomy.
ISSN:0167-4412
1573-5028
DOI:10.1007/bf00036971