Molecular characterization of glutathione reductase cDNAs from pea (Pisum sativum L.)

A cDNA for pea glutathione reductase has been cloned and sequenced. The derived amino acid sequence of 562 residues shows a high degree of homology to the previously published GR sequences from human erythrocytes and from two prokaryotes: Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The pea enzyme differs from other GRs in having an N-terminal leader sequence of about 60-70 residues which may be a chloroplast transit peptide and a 20 amino acid C-terminal extension of unknown function.