title: A second rhodopsin-like protein in Cyanophora paradoxa: gene sequence and protein expression in a cell-free system.
abstract: Here we report the identification and expression of a second rhodopsin-like protein in the alga Cyanophora paradoxa (Glaucophyta), named Cyanophopsin_2. This new protein was identified due to a serendipity event, since the RACE reaction performed to complete the sequence of Cyanophopsin_1, (the first rhodopsin-like protein of C. paradoxa identified in 2009 by our group), amplified a 619 bp sequence corresponding to a portion of a new gene of the same protein family. The full sequence consists of 1175 bp consisting of 849 bp coding DNA sequence and 4 introns of 326 bp. The protein is characterized by an N-terminal region of 47 amino acids, followed by a region with 7 α-helices of 213 amino acids and a C-terminal region of 22 amino acids. This protein showed high identity with Cyanophopsin_1 and other rhodopsin-like proteins of Archea, Bacteria, Fungi and Algae. Cyanophosin_2 (CpR2) was expressed in a cell-free expression system, and characterized by means of absorption spectroscopy.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Biofisica, CNR, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Anna Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Frassanito
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Barsanti
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Passarelli
authors.forename: Valtere
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Evangelista
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gualtieri
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D044424:Cyanophora / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000378:metabolism; D017343:Genes, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D012243:Rhodopsin; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D012243:Rhodopsin
keywords: Absorption spectrum; Cell-free expression; CpR2; Cyanophora paradoxa; Rhodopsin-like protein