title: Ca2+-dependent protein kinases of Paramecium--cloning provides evidence of a multigene family.
abstract: Two genes for Ca2+-dependent protein kinases, PCaPK-alpha and PCaPK-beta, were isolated from a Paramecium genomic DNA library. The coding region of PCaPK-alpha encoded 481 amino acids and that of PCaPK-beta encoded 493 amino acids, predicting molecular masses of 55603 Da and 57131 Da for each putative protein. The sequences of the protein kinase catalytic domains of PCaPK-alpha and PCaPK-beta were closely related to those of the Ca2+-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) from Plasmodium, Eimeria, and several plants, and the catalytic region of the Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase family (35-48% identity). In the junction region between the catalytic and regulatory regions, only 9 of 31 amino acid residues are the same in the two Paramecium genes, and the sequences encoded in the Paramecium genes differ from those in the plant CDPK genes in about 20 of 31 residues in the junction region. The C-terminal region of the Paramecium kinases shared sequence similarity with Paramecium calmodulin (30-34% identity). Two Ca2+-dependent protein kinases previously characterized from Paramecium (52 kDa CaPK-1, and 50 kDa CaPK-2) are activated by Ca2+ in the micromolar concentration range and they directly bind Ca2+ in a 45Ca2+ overlay blot assay. The size predicted from the genes, the presence of four putative Ca2+-binding motifs encoded in PCaPK-alpha and PCaPK-beta, and the immunological cross-reaction of expressed cloned fragments of these genes with CaPK-2, suggest that they encode proteins of the same family.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison 53706-1569, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Messinger
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Nelson
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D017125:Genes, Protozoan; D015698:Genomic Library; D007438:Introns; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D016805:Paramecium tetraurelia / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011493:Protein Kinase C / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D007527:Isoenzymes; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D011493:Protein Kinase C