CLONING AND SEQUENCING OF A SOYBEAN NUCLEAR GENE CODING FOR A CHLOROPLAST TRANSLATION ELONGATION FACTOR-EF-G

A plant nuclear gene coding for a chloroplast specific translation elo ngation factor EF-G (cEF-G) was cloned and sequenced for the first tim e. We screened two partial soybean genomic libraries with a short PCR amplified pea DNA probe constructed according to the N-terminal peptid e sequence of pea chloroplast EF-G. The gene is three times split, cod es for a chloroplast type transit peptide and a protein very similar t o bacterial translation elongation factor EF-G. The gene is expressed as evidenced by Northern hybridisations.