STRUCTURE AND SEQUENCE OF THE ARABIDOPSIS-THALIANA LIPOXYGENASE-1 GENE

We have isolated and sequenced the Arabidopsis thaliana LOX1 gene whic h encodes a lipoxygenase. The 5255 bp sequence includes 763 bp upstrea m from the start codon, 4345 bp spanning the coding region and 147 bp downstream from the stop codon. The coding region of the LOX1 gene con sists of 8 exons separated by 7 introns. The introns in the LOX1 gene are located,in sites predicted by the closely related soybean seed LOX 3 gene sequence. With the exception of intron 1, the LOX1 introns are smaller in size than the LOX3 introns. Furthermore the Arabidopsis gen e contains 7 introns, while the soybean gene contains 8. Four putative TATA box elements were identified in the 763 bp sequence upstream fro m the coding region, however only one is followed by a cap site which is located in a position appropriate for it to act as the initiation s ite for transcription.