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Title: COMPLEMENTARY DNA CLONING, SEQUENCING, AND EXPRESSION OF DEHYDRINS FROM BLUEBERRY FLORAL BUDS

Author
item PANTA, GANESH - UGA, HORTICULTURE
item PARMENTIER, CECILE - UNEMPLOYED
item Rowland, Lisa

Submitted to: American Society of Plant Physiologists Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/14/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: Panta, G.R., Parmentier, C.M., Rowland, L.J. 1999. Complementary dna cloning, sequencing, and expression of dehydrins from blueberry floral buds. American Society of Plant Physiologists Meeting.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Dehydrins are major plant proteins whose levels increase with cold or drought stress. Previously, three dehydrins of 65, 60, and 14 kD were identified as the predominant proteins present in cold-acclimated blueberry floral buds. Levels were shown to be highly correlated with levels of cold hardiness. A cDNA library prepared from RNA from cold-acclimated blueberry floral buds was screened for dehydrin cDNAs and a 2.0 kb dehydrin cDNA was isolated and sequenced. Five high-confidence peptide sequences obtained from the 60 kD dehydrin exactly matched sequences encoded within the cDNA. However, the sequence of the full-length cDNA clone indicated that it encodes a dehydrin with a native molecular mass of ~40 kD. Experiments to determine if the dehydrins undergo post-translational modifications revealed that the 60 kD dehydrin is glycosylated, thus explaining the discrepancy in size between the protein from floral buds and the size as predicted from the DNA sequence. More recently, the 2.0 kb dehydrin cDNA was used to isolate other dehydrin clones. It appears that at least two more different dehydrin cDNAs have been isolated and are being characterized. Experiments were also conducted to determine the effect of cold and drought stress on dehydrin gene expression in different tissues and cultivars of blueberry. Both cold and drought stress induced the three major dehydrins but also some less abundant dehydrins. Higher levels of the dehydrins were induced in the more cold and drought tolerant cultivars than in the cold and drought sensitive cultivars.