title: Major protein of resting rhizomes of Calystegia sepium (hedge bindweed) closely resembles plant RNases but has no enzymatic activity.
abstract: The most abundant protein of resting rhizomes of Calystegia sepium (L.) R.Br. (hedge bindweed) has been isolated and its corresponding cDNA cloned. The native protein consists of a single polypeptide of 212 amino acid residues and occurs as a mixture of glycosylated and unglycosylated isoforms. Both forms are derived from the same preproprotein containing a signal peptide and a C-terminal propeptide. Analysis of the deduced amino acid sequence indicated that the C. sepium protein shows high sequence identity and structural similarity with plant RNases. However, no RNase activity could be detected in highly purified preparations of the protein. This apparent lack of activity results most probably from the replacement of a conserved His residue, which is essential for the catalytic activity of plant RNases. Our findings not only demonstrate the occurrence of a catalytically inactive variant of an S-like RNase, but also provide further evidence that genes encoding storage proteins may have evolved from genes encoding enzymes or other biologically active proteins.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Phytopathology and Plant Protection, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Willem de Croylaan 42, 3001 Leuven, Belgium. els.vandamme@agr.kuleuven.
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Van Damme
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barre
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rougé
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Van Leuven
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Peumans
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017931:DNA Primers; D018744:DNA, Plant; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D010944:Plants / Q000737:chemistry / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D012260:Ribonucleases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D018744:DNA, Plant; D010940:Plant Proteins; C405543:RNase-related protein, Calystegia sepium; D012260:Ribonucleases