Restriction fragment length polymorphism segregation analysis of the Li locus in Trifolium repens L.

The Li locus in white clover controls the presence of cyanogenic beta-glucosidase (linamarase) activity in leaf tissue, such that plants homozygous for the 'null' allele (li) have no linamarase activity in this tissue. The isolation of a cDNA clone from linamarase mRNA is described. The cDNA clone is used to further characterise alleles of the Li locus. Northern blot analysis shows that plants homozygous for the 'null' allele (li li) produce very reduced levels of mRNA which hybridises to the cDNA. Heterozygous plants (Li li), which have intermediate levels of enzyme activity, produce intermediate levels of mRNA. Southern blot analysis of Hind III digested genomic DNA shows that the white clover genome contains three genes with homology to the linamarase cDNA and that at least two of these genes segregate independently. Analysis of the cosegregation of linamarase activity and the presence of genomic restriction fragments identifies the genomic sequence specifying linamarase structure and indicates either a structural or cis acting control function of the Li locus.

Isolation and characterisation of a cDNA clone for a chlorophyll synthesis enzyme from Euglena gracilis. The chloroplast enzyme hydroxymethylbilane synthase (porphobilinogen deaminase) is synthesised with a very long transit peptide in Euglena.

A cDNA expression library was constructed from light-grown Euglena gracilis poly(A)-rich RNA in lambda gt11. Antibodies to Euglena hydroxymethylbilane synthase, the third enzyme in the porphyrin biosynthetic pathway, were used to screen the library and a clone encoding part of the sequence of hydroxymethylbilane synthase was identified. This was used to rescreen the library and a full-length clone was isolated, which encoded not only the entire mature protein (Mr 36,927), but also an N-terminal extension of 139 amino acids. The deduced Mr of the whole polypeptide is 51,744, which corresponds to the size of the protein immunoprecipitated from the translation products of Euglena poly(A)-rich RNA. The mature protein is 60-70% similar to hydroxymethylbilane synthase from human erythrocytes and Escherichia coli. The sequence of the N-terminal extension has similarities to both the transit peptides of chloroplast proteins and those for the endoplasmic reticulum. This is the first report both of a cDNA clone for an enzyme of the chlorophyll biosynthetic pathway and of a putative transit peptide for a nuclear-encoded Euglena protein.

Synthesis of the cyanogenic beta-glucosidase, linamarase, in white clover.

The beta-glucosidase, linamarase, which specifically hydrolyzes cyanogenic substrates, linamarin and lotaustralin, in white clover, is synthesized in the early stages of leaf and seedling development in genetically competent plants. Plants, from natural populations, possessing at least one Li allele synthesize linamarase but plants with only li alleles do not, nor do they produce inactive but antigenically related linamarase. Linamarase is known to be a mannosyl glycoprotein, which in its active form is a dimer, with a subunit size of 62,000 Mr. We demonstrate that the antibiotic tunicamycin, which prevents N-acetyl-asparagine linked glycosylation, reduces in vivo synthesis of linarmarase. In vitro translation of mRNA from a Li Li plant yields a 59,000 Mr immunoprecipitated linamarase polypeptide which is modified to a 62,000 Mr product by the addition of dog pancreas microsomes. No anti-linamarase immunoprecipitable product is obtained from the in vitro translation products of mRNA from a li li plant.

The molecular biology of cyanogenesis.

The cyanogenic polymorphism in Trifolium repens L. (white clover) has been used as the basis of a study of the genetic control of cyanogenesis. The Ac locus controls the presence of two cyanoglucosides in white clover. Biochemical characterization of cyanoglucoside biosynthesis in plants containing different Ac alleles has shown that this is a complex locus which affects more than one step in the pathway. A study of the in vivo synthesis and processing of the cyanogenic beta-glucosidase (linamarase) of white clover led to the isolation of cDNA clones for this enzyme. The cloning strategy and structure of the cDNA clones is described. Together with biochemical and genetic data, these clones have been used to characterize the Li locus which controls linamarase activity in white clover. It has been shown that 'null' alleles of the Li locus result in very reduced levels of transcription of homologous mRNA sequences. The use of these cDNA clones to investigate the genomic organization of cyanogenesis genes in both white clover and other cyanogenic species is described, and their use in structural analysis of the cyanogenic beta-glucosidase is discussed.