title: Glutathione transferase, but not agglutinin, is a dormancy-related protein in Castanea crenata trees.
abstract: The annual changes in Japanese chestnut (Castanea crenata Sieb. et Zucc.) agglutinin (CCA) were investigated by both protein and RNA blotting analyses, to clarify whether CCA has a function as storage protein. In the woody part of shoots and leaves, CCA expression was only detected at both the protein and RNA levels in May and June. In buds, the CCA protein and mRNA expressions were both restricted to April. However, the amount of accumulated CCA was too low to act as a nitrogen reserve. No expression was observed in the bark at any time point, suggesting that bark does not contain either CCA or CCA-like proteins. These results suggest that CCA may be required in young organs as a defense protein, rather than as a storage protein. In addition, CCA was not related to dormancy, unlike some other woody plant bark lectins. In contrast to CCA, a 28kDa polypeptide was observed to accumulate during dormancy. Sequence analysis indicated that this polypeptide was a glutathione transferase. After cDNA cloning, RNA blot analyses indicated that this glutathione transferase was strongly expressed in woody parts during mid-winter. In shoots, this protein represented approximately 10% of the total soluble protein content. Therefore, in Japanese chestnut trees, glutathione transferase may play a nitrogen storage role in addition to its intrinsic defensive role against stresses during dormancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Resource Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Kobe University, 1-1, Rokkodai-cho, Nada-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 657-8501, Japan. knomurak@kobe-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Keiichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nomura
authors.forename: Ayako
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ikegami
authors.forename: Atsuo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Koide
authors.forename: Fumio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yagi
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D004587:Electrophoresis, Agar Gel; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D029962:Fagaceae / Q000201:enzymology*; D005982:Glutathione Transferase / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D007564:Japan; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D037121:Plant Lectins / Q000032:analysis*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000201:enzymology; D018520:Plant Shoots / Q000201:enzymology; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012621:Seasons; D014197:Trees / Q000201:enzymology
chemical_list: D037121:Plant Lectins; D010940:Plant Proteins; D005982:Glutathione Transferase