Non-Structural Putative Chlorophyll-Binding Proteins of Arabidopsis Thaliana

Abstract

In response to light stress, the nuclear-encoded early light inducible proteins (ELIPs) are transiently expressed and accumulate in the thylakoid membrane in substoichiometric amounts. These proteins are rapidly degraded after transfer of plants to low light conditions [1]. ELIPs are related to the cab gene family and are integral membrane proteins with predicted 3 transmembrane helices. Helices I and III show high homology with the corresponding transmembrane loops of all known cab gene products [2]. The function as free chlorophyll scavengers was proposed for higher plant ELIPs [3]. The proteins homologue to pea or barley ELIPs were found to be expressed in response to desiccation stress in Craterostigma planta gineum [4] or in response to nutrient deprivation in green alga Dunaliella bardawil [5]. Taking this into consideration we decided to identify and isolate all members of ELIP family in Arabidopsis thaliana and study the effect of different stresses on their expression.