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The Elm1 (ZmHy2) gene of maize encodes a phytochromobilin synthase

The Elm1 (ZmHy2) gene of maize encodes a phytochromobilin synthase
The Elm1 (ZmHy2) gene of maize encodes a phytochromobilin synthase
The light insensitive maize (Zea mays) mutant elongated mesocotyl1 (elm1) has previously been shown to be deficient in the synthesis of the phytochrome chromophore 3E-phytochromobilin (PB). To identify the Elm1 gene, a maize homolog of the Arabidopsis PB synthase gene AtHY2 was isolated and designated ZmHy2. ZmHy2 encodes a 297-amino acid protein of 34 kD that is 50% identical to AtHY2. ZmHY2 was predicted to be plastid localized and was targeted to chloroplasts following transient expression in tobacco (Nicotiana plumbaginifolia) leaves. Molecular mapping indicated that ZmHy2 is a single copy gene in maize that is genetically linked to the Elm1 locus. Sequence analysis revealed that the ZmHy2 gene of elm1 mutants contains a single G to A transition at the 3' splice junction of intron III resulting in missplicing and premature translational termination. However, flexibility in the splicing machinery allowed a small pool of in-frame ZmHy2 transcripts to accumulate in elm1 plants. In addition, multiple ZmHy2 transcript forms accumulated in both wild-type and elm1 mutant plants. ZmHy2 splice variants were expressed in Escherichia coli and products examined for activity using a coupled apophytochrome assembly assay. Only full-length ZmHY2 (as defined by homology to AtHY2) was found to exhibit PB synthase activity. Thus, the elm1 mutant of maize is deficient in phytochrome response due to a lesion in a gene encoding phytochromobilin synthase that severely compromises the PB pool.
0032-0889
2771-2781
Sawers, Ruairidh J.H.
97af8bdc-8c93-48a7-a5e3-d683f86f8f88
Linley, Philip J.
d51af231-e616-4e0b-8737-1d066a1b2fc4
Gutierrez-Marcos, Jose F.
33c82859-fecd-4cd7-b721-1424329dcc4c
Delli-Bovi, Teegan
8ccdcc53-4e84-4e38-9f6b-1f42412da8f3
Farmer, Phyllis R.
9a821628-e25f-4526-99bd-fb8d6adc1754
Kohchi, Takayuki
b021bbca-31b2-4ec1-acdb-3000bac8dc03
Terry, Matthew J.
a8c2cd6b-8d35-4053-8d77-3841c2427c3b
Brutnell, Thomas P.
20649203-08a3-46c1-b1f5-e220062e2b02
Sawers, Ruairidh J.H.
97af8bdc-8c93-48a7-a5e3-d683f86f8f88
Linley, Philip J.
d51af231-e616-4e0b-8737-1d066a1b2fc4
Gutierrez-Marcos, Jose F.
33c82859-fecd-4cd7-b721-1424329dcc4c
Delli-Bovi, Teegan
8ccdcc53-4e84-4e38-9f6b-1f42412da8f3
Farmer, Phyllis R.
9a821628-e25f-4526-99bd-fb8d6adc1754
Kohchi, Takayuki
b021bbca-31b2-4ec1-acdb-3000bac8dc03
Terry, Matthew J.
a8c2cd6b-8d35-4053-8d77-3841c2427c3b
Brutnell, Thomas P.
20649203-08a3-46c1-b1f5-e220062e2b02

Sawers, Ruairidh J.H., Linley, Philip J., Gutierrez-Marcos, Jose F., Delli-Bovi, Teegan, Farmer, Phyllis R., Kohchi, Takayuki, Terry, Matthew J. and Brutnell, Thomas P. (2004) The Elm1 (ZmHy2) gene of maize encodes a phytochromobilin synthase. Plant Physiology, 136 (1), 2771-2781. (doi:10.1104/pp.104.046417).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The light insensitive maize (Zea mays) mutant elongated mesocotyl1 (elm1) has previously been shown to be deficient in the synthesis of the phytochrome chromophore 3E-phytochromobilin (PB). To identify the Elm1 gene, a maize homolog of the Arabidopsis PB synthase gene AtHY2 was isolated and designated ZmHy2. ZmHy2 encodes a 297-amino acid protein of 34 kD that is 50% identical to AtHY2. ZmHY2 was predicted to be plastid localized and was targeted to chloroplasts following transient expression in tobacco (Nicotiana plumbaginifolia) leaves. Molecular mapping indicated that ZmHy2 is a single copy gene in maize that is genetically linked to the Elm1 locus. Sequence analysis revealed that the ZmHy2 gene of elm1 mutants contains a single G to A transition at the 3' splice junction of intron III resulting in missplicing and premature translational termination. However, flexibility in the splicing machinery allowed a small pool of in-frame ZmHy2 transcripts to accumulate in elm1 plants. In addition, multiple ZmHy2 transcript forms accumulated in both wild-type and elm1 mutant plants. ZmHy2 splice variants were expressed in Escherichia coli and products examined for activity using a coupled apophytochrome assembly assay. Only full-length ZmHY2 (as defined by homology to AtHY2) was found to exhibit PB synthase activity. Thus, the elm1 mutant of maize is deficient in phytochrome response due to a lesion in a gene encoding phytochromobilin synthase that severely compromises the PB pool.

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Published date: September 2004

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 56783
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/56783
ISSN: 0032-0889
PURE UUID: 73331e5a-c741-47f9-94e4-8bf3e65c74b1
ORCID for Matthew J. Terry: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-5002-2708

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Date deposited: 08 Aug 2008
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 02:52

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Contributors

Author: Ruairidh J.H. Sawers
Author: Philip J. Linley
Author: Jose F. Gutierrez-Marcos
Author: Teegan Delli-Bovi
Author: Phyllis R. Farmer
Author: Takayuki Kohchi
Author: Thomas P. Brutnell

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