Osmotic stress activated expression of an Arabidopsis plasma membrane-associated protein: sequence and predicted secondary structure

Abstract

A cDNA clone At.MAMI ( Arabidopsis thaliana membrane-associated mannitol-induced) was isolated from an Arabidopsis cDNA expression library by immunoselection. The cDNA was full-length (1.18 kb) with an open reading frame of 798 nucleotides encoding a 265 amino acid protein. The sequence of At.MAMI did not show any significant identity with other genes, as well as the deduced amino acid sequence with other proteins. However, prediction methods for the secondary structure of MAMI-30, together with homologous domains revealed some identity with VAP-33, a protein involved in membrane trafficking in neuronal tissues. In contrast to VAP-33, MAMI-30 did not exhibit a transmembrane domain, but positively charged loop regions could be involved in membrane anchoring. Indeed, MAMI-30 was immunodetected in purified plasma membrane from Arabidopsis cells. The gene was responsive to low turgor in Arabidopsis and its expression regulated developmentally. In addition, reduction of turgor caused a higher accumulation of mRNAs.