title: Isolation of the gene coding for Caenorhabditis elegans Rac2 homologue, a Ras-related small GTP-binding protein.
abstract: When screening a Caenorhabditis elegans genomic library using the human Rac1 cDNA as probe, a hybridizing fragment of 2.7 kb was isolated which contained four exons with high sequence similarity to CeRac1, coding for the nematode homologue of the Ras-related small GTP-binding protein Rac1. The putative translational product of 195 amino acids (aa) from the exons displayed 88% identity to the sequence of CeRac1. Interestingly, three alterations were found in the N-terminal "effector domain' (residues 22-45) which hitherto was identical among all known Rac p21s, suggesting that CeRac2 might have different targets/functions for nematode development. Additionally, an insertion of 4 aa was found in the hypervariable region at the C terminus of CeRac2.
authors.affiliation: Glaxo-IMCB Group, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: S F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Yap
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lim
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018509:DNA, Helminth; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D017238:Genes, Helminth; D015801:Helminth Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D020744:rac GTP-Binding Proteins
chemical_list: D018509:DNA, Helminth; D015801:Helminth Proteins; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins; D020744:rac GTP-Binding Proteins