title: Three new nuclear genes, sigD, sigE and sigF, encoding putative plastid RNA polymerase sigma factors in Aarabidopsis thaliana.
abstract: Three new nuclear genes (sigD, sigE and sigF) of Arabidopsis thaliana, encoding putative plastid RNA polymerase sigma factors, were identified and analyzed. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that higher plant sigma factors fell into at least four distinct subgroups within a diverse protein family. In addition, Arabidopsis sig genes contained conserved chromosomal intron sites, indicating that these genes arose by DNA duplication events during plant evolution. Transcript analyses revealed two alternatively spliced transcripts generated from the sigD region, one of which is predicted to encode a sigma protein lacking the carboxy-terminal regions 3 and 4. Finally, the amino-terminal sequence of the sigF gene product was shown to function as a plastid-targeting signal using green fluorescent protein fusions.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, The University of Tokyo, Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, 113-0032, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nagashima
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kanamaru
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takahashi
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing / Q000235:genetics; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D002736:Chloroplasts / Q000201:enzymology*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D020131:Genes, Duplicate / Q000235:genetics; D017343:Genes, Plant / Q000235:genetics*; D007438:Introns / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D018749:RNA, Plant / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D012808:Sigma Factor / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D021382:Protein Sorting Signals; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D018749:RNA, Plant; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D012808:Sigma Factor; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases