Structural characterization of a rice actin gene

Abstract

We have isolated and sequenced a full-length cDNA clone containing information for the rice actin gene RAc1. Transcript terminus mapping and sequence alignment between the RAc1 cDNA clone and a previously isolated RAc1 genomic clone were used to determine the structure of the RAc1 gene. This allowed us to make the first complete structural characterization of a plant actin gene. The analysis revealed the presence of a 5'-noncoding exon, separated by an intron, from the first translated exon of the RAc1 gene. This is one of the few reported cases of a plant gene containing such a 5'-noncoding exon. Sequence comparison between the previously isolated plant actin genes suggests that such an exon may be a common feature of plant actin gene structure. The present study also confirms that the rice actin gene family is composed of at least eight unique members.

Isolation of an efficient actin promoter for use in rice transformation.

“…The sequence around the Actl transcription initiation site, as previously determined by primer extension analysis (McElroy et al, 1990), CCTACCA, is similar to the consensus sequences for transcription initiation, YYYAYYA (Y = pyrimidine), previously determined for a number of plant genes (Joshi, 1987). The 79-bp noncoding exon located 3' of the putative Actl TATA box is GC-rich (77.5%) and consists of a number of tandemly repeated TCC triplets (Figure 2, region vi).…”

“…The resulting restriction map of the 15.1 -kb M c t l insert, together with an indication of the position of the Actl coding and noncoding exons (McElroy et al, 1990), is shown in Figure 1A. A 5.3-kb Hindlll fragment from the M c t l insert, spanning a region from 3.9 kb upstream of the Actl coding sequence to a point within its third coding exon, was isolated and cloned into the Hindlll site of pBluescriptll-KS (Stratagene) to produce the plasmid pActl-A.…”

“…In rice, there are at least eight actin-like sequences per haploid genome; four of these have been isolated and shown to differ from each other in the tissue-and stage-specific abundance of their respective transcripts (Reece, 1988;McElroy, Rothenberg, and Wu, 1990;Reece, McElroy, and Wu, 1990). The rice actin 1 gene, Actl, was found to encode a transcript that is relatively abundant in all rice tissues and at all developmental stages examined.…”

“…A complete structural analysis of the rice Actl gene had previously led to the identification and localization of a 5'-noncoding exon, separated by a 5' intron from the first coding exon of the Actl sequence (McElroy et al, 1990). It has been reported that a 5' intron in the maize Adhl gene is essential for the efficient expression of foreign genes from the maize Adhl promoter (Callis, Fromm, and Walbot, 1987).…”

Sugar Coordinately and Differentially Regulates Growth- and Stress-Related Gene Expression via a Complex Signal Transduction Network and Multiple Control Mechanisms

“…Plasmid pcRAc1.3 contains a 1.4-kb rice actin 1 cDNA insert in pBluescript II-KS (McElroy et al, 1990). Plasmid pRY18 carries a 3.8-kb DNA fragment that contains a rice genomic rDNA cluster, including the 3Ј-half portion of 18S rRNA gene, the complete 5.8S rRNA gene, and the 5Ј-half portion of the 25S rRNA gene in pUC13 (Sano and Sano, 1990).…”