title: The Egg apparatus 1 gene from maize is a member of a large gene family found in both monocots and dicots.
abstract: The maize ZmEA1 protein was recently postulated to be involved in short-range pollen tube guidance from the embryo sac. To date, EA1-like sequences had only been identified in monocot species. Using a more conserved C-terminal motif found in the monocot species, numerous ZmEA1-like sequences were retrieved in EST databases from dicot species, as well as from unannotated genomic sequences of Arabidopsis thaliana. RT-PCR analyses were produced for these unannotated genes and showed that these were indeed expressed genes. Further structural and phylogenetic analyses revealed that all members of the EA1-like (EAL) gene family shared a conserved 27-29 amino acid motif, termed the EA box near the C-terminal end, and appear to be secretory proteins. Therefore, the EA box proteins defines a new class of small secretory proteins, some of which being possibly involved in pollen tube guidance.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recherche en Biologie Végétale (IRBV), Département de Sciences Biologiques, Université de Montréal, 4101 rue Sherbrooke est, H1X 2B2 Montréal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Madoka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gray-Mitsumune
authors.forename: Daniel Philippe
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Matton
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D017343:Genes, Plant; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D010802:Phylogeny; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D020539:Sequence Analysis, Protein; D003313:Zea mays / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals