IN-VIVO AGGREGATION OF MAIZE ACTIVATOR (AC) TRANSPOSASE IN NUCLEI OF MAIZE ENDOSPERM AND PETUNIA PROTOPLASTS

Citation
M. Heinlein et al., IN-VIVO AGGREGATION OF MAIZE ACTIVATOR (AC) TRANSPOSASE IN NUCLEI OF MAIZE ENDOSPERM AND PETUNIA PROTOPLASTS, Plant journal, 5(5), 1994, pp. 705-714
Citations number
44
Categorie Soggetti
Plant Sciences",Biology
Journal title
ISSN journal
09607412
Volume
5
Issue
5
Year of publication
1994
Pages
705 - 714
Database
ISI
SICI code
0960-7412(1994)5:5<705:IAOMA(>2.0.ZU;2-Q
Abstract
The transposase (TPase) of the maize transposon Activator (Ac) accumul ates in the nuclei of maize endosperm and transfected Petunia protopla sts, where it aggregates into rod-like structures about 2 mu m in leng th. In petunia protoplasts the amount of TPase aggregates increases wi th the strength of the promoter fused to the Ac-coding region. The exc ision frequency of a Ds element, however, does not increase proportion ally. The data suggest that the aggregated TPase is not responsible fo r the mobilization of the Ds element, but rather is a transpositionall y inactive form of the protein. In contrast to the full-length TPase, a functional, N-terminally truncated TPase derivative is inefficiently transported into the nucleus at high expression levels and aggregates predominantly in the cytoplasm. Accordingly, the N-terminus of the TP ase is involved in nuclear localization and/or aggregation.