Isolation and characterization of a hot pepper calmodulin cDNA clone

초록

A clone, pCCM1, which encodes a calmodulin (CaM) was isolated and characterized from hot pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) plants. The clone is 657 bp long and contains the 450 bp of an open reading frame, 26 bp 5' untranslated sequence, 180 bp 3'-untranslated region, and a poly(A) tail. The open reading frame encodes 149 amino acids with a predicted M(r) 17 kDa. Comparison of the CCM1 amino acid sequence with other CaMs revealed that the protein is highly conserved among various living organisms. The expression level of the calmodulin gene in pepper plants was studied by RNA blot analysis. The CaM transcripts were present in seedlings, leaves, anthers, and fruits but rarely detected in roots and floral buds. A high level of calmodulin mRNA in anther and fruit but not in floral bud suggests that expression of the CCM1 gene is controlled in a tissue specific manner. Southern analysis shows that calmodulin genes are comprised of a small gene family in hot pepper.

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