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Abstract

Cyclins are involved in the regulation of cell cycle progression in eukaryotes. We have isolated a cyclin cDNA clone, cycZm2w, from maize root tip cells, which fits best into group A2 of current plant cyclin gene classification schemes. The cDNA encodes a protein with a domain homologous to the cyclin box of mitotic cyclins. Complementation studies revealed that cycZm2w was able to rescue a budding yeast cyclin-deficient mutant (BF305-15d#21). As expected, cycZm2w is expressed in organs of the maize plant that possess meristematic activity, but is especially prominent in the proliferating regions of the root apex.

Cyclin-dependent kinase complexes in developing maize endosperm: evidence for differential expression and functional specialization

“…Among the identified cyclins are representatives of the A-, B- and D-types that were previously reported. CYCA1;1 and CYCA1;2 were originally named cycIIZm (Renaudin et al 1994) and cycZm2w (Hsieh et al 1998), respectively, and are 82 % identical at the amino acid sequence level. CYCA1;1 and an additional maize A1-type cyclin that we previously designated as CYCA1;3 (Coelho et al 2005; Sabelli et al 2005) have nearly identical sequences, are probably allelic and thus both were named CYCA1;1.…”