Characterization of Zea mays endosperm C-24 sterol methyltransferase: One of two types of sterol methyltransferase in higher plants

Robert J. Grebenok, David W. Galbraith, Dean Della Penna

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

32 Scopus citations

Abstract

We report the characterization of a higher-plant C-24 sterol methyltransferase by yeast complementation. A Zea mays endosperm expressed sequence tag (EST) was identified which, upon complete sequencing, showed 46% identity to the yeast C-24 methyltransferase gene (ERG6) and 75% and 37% amino acid identity to recently isolated higher-plant sterol methyltransferases from soybean and Arabidopsis, respectively. When placed under GAL4 regulation, the Z. mays cDNA functionally complemented the erg6 mutation, restoring ergosterol production and conferring resistance to cycloheximide. Complementation was both plasmid-dependent and galactose-inducible. The Z. mays cDNA clone contains an open reading frame encoding a 40 kDa protein containing motifs common to a large number of S-adenosyl-L-methionine methyltransferases (SMTs). Sequence comparisons and functional studies of the maize, soybean and Arabidopsis cDNAs indicates two types of C-24 SMTs exist in higher plants.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)891-896
Number of pages6
JournalPlant Molecular Biology
Volume34
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 1997

Keywords

  • Cloning
  • Methyltransferase
  • Phytosterol
  • Yeast complementation
  • Zea mays

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Agronomy and Crop Science
  • Genetics
  • Plant Science

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