Abstract
A cDNA coding for phytocystatin, a protease inhibitor, was isolated from wheat embryos by differential display RT-PCR and the corresponding full-length cDNA (named WC5 for wheat cystatin gene 5) subsequently obtained by RACE. The deduced primary sequence of the protein suggests the presence of a 28 amino acid N-terminal signal sequence and a 100 amino acid mature protein containing the three consensus motifs known to interact with the active site of cysteine peptidases. Northern and western analysis revealed a spatio-temporal pattern of the cystatin gene expression during caryopse development. In the embryo, WC5 was only expressed during early embryogenesis whereas, in seed covering layers, WC5 expression was restricted to the maturation stage of grain development. In addition, immunolocalization experiments showed that cystatin accumulated in the aleurone layer of the maturating seed and in the parenchymal tissues of the embryo scutellum. A recombinant form of the wheat cystatin was shown to be able to inhibit peptidase activities present in whole seed protein extracts. In addition, immunological techniques allowed us to identify two putative target peptidases. The possible roles of the cystatin protein are discussed in relation with tissular localization and putative peptidase targets during seed maturation.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abe, K., Emori, Y., Kondo, H., Suzuki, K. and Arai, S. 1987. Molecular cloning of a cysteine proteinase inhibitor of rice (oryzacystatin). J. Biol. Chem. 262: 16793–16797.
Abe, M., Abe, K., Kuroda, M. and Arai, S. 1992. Corn kernel cysteine proteinase inhibitor as a novel cystatin superfamily member of plant origin. Eur. J. Biochem. 209: 933–937.
Abe, Y., Shirane, K., Yokosawa, H., Matsushita, H., Mitta, M., Kato, I. and Ishii, S. 1993. Asparaginyl endopeptidase of jack bean seeds. J. Biol. Chem. 268: 3525–3529.
Abe, M., Abe, K., Iwabuchi, K., Domoto, C. and Arai, S. 1994. Corn cystatin I expressed in Escherichia coli: investigation of its inhibitory profile and occurrence in corn kernels. J. Biochem. 116: 488–492.
Abe, M., Abe, K., Domoto, C. and Arai, S. 1995. Two distinct species of corn cystatin in corn kernels. Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem. 59: 756–758.
Afonso, S., Romagnano, L. and Babiaz, B. 1997. The expression and function of cystatin C and cathepsin B and cathepsin L during mouse implantation and placentation. Development 124: 3415–3425.
Alvarez-Fernandez, M., Barret, A.J., Gerhartz, B., Dando, P.M., Ni, J. and Abrahamson, M. 1999. Inhibition of mammalian legumain by some cystatins is due to a novel second reactive site. J. Biol. Chem. 274: 19195–19203.
Beers, E.P., Woffenden, B.J. and Zhao, C. 2000. Plant proteolytic enzymes: possible role during programmed cell death. PlantMol. Biol. 44: 399–415.
Berger, D. and Altmann, T. 2000. A subtilisin-like serine protease involved in the regulation of stomatal density and distribution in Arabidopsis thaliana. Genes Dev. 14: 1119–1131.
Bode, W., Engh, R., Musil, D., Thiele, U., Huber, R., Karshikov, A., Brzin, J., Kos, J. and Turk, V. 1988. The 2.0 Å X-ray crystal structure of chicken egg white cystatin and its possible mode of interaction with cysteine proteinases. EMBO J. 7: 2593–2599.
Bosme, M., Weideman, F. and Olsen, O.-A. 1992. Endosperm differentiation in barley wild-type and sex mutants. Plant J. 2: 661–674.
Botella, M.A., Xu, Y., Prabha, T.N., Zhao, Y., Narasimhan, M.L., Wilson, K.A., Nielsen, S.S., Bressan, R.A. and Hasegawa, P.M. 1996. Differential expression of soybean proteinase inhibitor genes during development and in response to wounding and methyl jasmonate. Plant Physiol. 112: 1201–1210.
Callis, J. 1995. Regulation of protein degradation. Plant Cell 7: 845–857.
Cejudo, F.J., Murphy, G., Chinoy, C. and Baulcombe, D.C. 1992. A gibberellin-regulated gene from wheat with sequence homology to cathepsin B of mammalian cells. Plant J. 2: 937–948.
Chen, F. and Foolad, M.R. 1997. Molecular organization of a gene in barley which encodes a protein similar to aspartic protease and its specific expression in nucellar cells during degeneration. Plant Mol Biol. 35: 821–831.
Corre, F., Henry, Y., Rode, A. and Hartmann, C. 1996 Em gene expression during somatic embryogenesis in the monocot Triticum aestivum L. Plant Sci. 117: 139–149.
Dixon, M. and Webb, E.C. 1979. The Enzymes. Longmans, London, pp. 332–380.
Dominguez, F. and Cejudo F.J. 1995. Pattern of endoproteolysis following wheat grain germination. Physiol. Plant. 95: 253–259.
Dominguez, F. and Cejudo F.J. 1996. Characterization of the endoproteases appearing during wheat grain development. Plant Physiol. 112: 1211–1217.
Dominguez, F. and Cejudo F.J. 1998. Germination-related genes encoding proteolytic enzymes are expressed in the nucellus of developing wheat grains. Plant J. 15: 569–574.
Fernandez, K.V.S., Sabelli, P.A., Barratt, D.H.P., Richardson, M., Xavier-Filho, J. and Shewry, P.R. 1993. The resistance of cowpea seeds to bruchid beetles is not related to levels of cysteine proteinase inhibitors. Plant Mol. Biol. 23: 215–219.
Joshi, C.P., Zhou, H., Huang, X. and Chiang V.L. 1997. Context sequences of translation initiation codon in plants. Plant Mol. Biol. 35: 993–1001.
Hara-Nishimura, I., Inoue, K. and Nishimura, M. 1991. A unique vacuolar processing enzyme responsible for conversion of several pro-protein precursors into the mature form. FEBS Lett. 294: 89–93.
Koiwa, H., Bressan, R.A. and Hasegawa, P.M. 1997 Regulation of protease inhibitors and plant defense. Trends Plant Sci. 2: 379–384.
Kondo, H., Abe, K., Nishimura, I., Watanabe, H., Emori, Y. and Arai, S. 1990. Two distinct cystatin species in rice seeds with different specificities against cysteine proteinases. J. Biol. Chem. 265: 15832–15837.
Kos, J., Werle, B., Lah T. and Brunner N. 2000. Cysteine proteinases and their inhibitors in extracellular fluids: markers for diagnosis and prognosis in cancer. Int. J. Biol. Markers 15: 84–89.
Kuroda, M., Kiyosaki, T., Matsumoto, I., Misaka, T., Arai, S. and Abe K. 2001. Molecular cloning, characterization, and expression of wheat cystatins. Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem. 65: 22–28.
Leplé, J.C., Bonadé-Bottino, M., Augustin, S., Pilate, G., Lê Tran, V.D., Deplanque, A., Cornu, D. and Jouanin, L. 1995. Toxicity to Chrysomela tremulae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) of transgenic poplars expressing a cysteine proteinase inhibitor. Mol. Breed. 1: 319–328.
Linnestad, C., Doan, D.N.P., Brown, R.C.X., Lemmon, B.E., Meyer, D.J., Jung, R. and Olsen, O.-A. 1998. Nucellain, a barley homolog of the dicot vacuolar-processing proteases, is localized in nucellar cell walls. Plant Physiol. 118: 1169–1180.
Machleidt, W., Thiele, U., Laber, B., Assfalg-Machleidt, I., Esterl, A., Wiegand, G., Kos, J., Turk, V. and Bode, W. 1989. Mechanism of inhibition of papain by chicken egg white cystatin. FEBS Lett. 243: 234–238.
Margis, R., Reis, E.M. and Villeret, V. 1998. Structural and phylogenetic relationships among plant and animal cystatins. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 359: 24–30.
Michaud, D., Faye, L., and Yelle, S. 1993. Electrophoretic analysis of plant cysteine and serine proteinases using gelatin-containing polyacrylamide gels and class specific proteinase inhibitors. Electrophoresis 14: 94–98.
Michaud, D., Nguyen-Quoc B. and Yelle, S. 1994 Production of oryzacystatins I and II in Escherichia coli using the glutathione S-transferase gene fusion system. Biotechnol. Prog. 10: 155–159.
Misaka, T., Kuroda, M., Iwabuchi, K., Abe, K. and Arai S. 1996. Soyacystatin, a novel cysteine proteinase inhibitor in soybean, is distinct in protein structure and gene organization from other cystatins of animal and plant origin. Eur. J. Biochem. 240: 609–614.
Morrison, I.N., O'Brien, T.P. and Kuo, J. 1978. Initial cellularization and differenciation of the aleurone cells in the ventral region of the developing wheat grain. Planta 140: 19–30.
Ojima, A., Shiota, H., Higashi, K., Kamada, H., Shimma, Y.-I., Wada,M. and Satoh, S. 1997. An extracellular insoluble inhibitor of cysteine proteinases in cell cultures and seeds of carrot. Plant Mol. Biol. 34: 99–109.
Pernas, M., Sanchez-Monge, R. and Salcedo, G. 2000. Biotic and abiotic stress can induce cystatin expression in chestnut. FEBS Lett. 467: 206–210.
Ryan, S., Laing, W.A. and McManus, M.T. 1998. A cysteine proteinase inhibitor purified from apple fruit. Phytochemistry 49: 957–963.
Solomon, M., Belenghi, B., Delledonne, M., Menachem, E. and Levine, A. 1999. The involvement of cysteine proteases and protease inhibitor genes in the regulation of programmed cell death in plants. Plant Cell 11: 431–443.
Töhönen, V., Österlund, C. and Nordqvist, K. 1998. Testatin: a cystatin-related gene expressed during early testis development. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95: 14208–14213.
Turk, V. and Bode, W. 1991. The cystatins: protein inhibitors of cysteine proteinases. FEBS Lett. 285: 213–219.
Vierstra, R.D. 1996. Proteolysis in plants: mechanisms and functions. Plant Mol. Biol. 32: 275–302.
Womack, J.S., Randall, J. and Kemp, J.D. 2000. Identification of a signal peptide for oryzacystatin-I. Planta 210: 844–847.
Young, T.E. and Gallie D.R. 2000. Programmed cell death during endosperm development. Plant Mol. Biol. 44: 283–301.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Corre-Menguy, F., Cejudo, F.J., Mazubert, C. et al. Characterization of the expression of a wheat cystatin gene during caryopsis development. Plant Mol Biol 50, 687–698 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1019906031305
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1019906031305