Monoclonal antibodies to three separate domains on 124 kilodalton phytochrome from Avena

Forty-six monoclonal antibodies have been prepared against 124 kilodalton phytochrome from Avena sativa cv Garry. Clones grown in mice have yielded ascites fluids with antibodies which bind to three distinct regions of the molecule, as visualized by immunoblot analysis of proteolytically produced peptides of the protein. One antibody group (type 1) recognizes an antigenic domain(s) that lies within 6 kilodaltons of the amino terminus of the molecule, a region critical to correct protein-chromophore interaction. The second group (type 2) binds to an antigenic site(s) present within the chromophore-containing half of the molecule that is adjacent to the domain recognized by the type 1 antibodies. The third group (type 3) recognizes an antigenic site(s) that resides in the nonchromophoric, carboxy terminal end of the molecule between 88 and 97 kilodaltons from the amino terminus. One of the type 1 antibodies cross-reacts with apparently undegraded 120 kilodalton phytochrome from zucchini, and therefore may be useful for identifying conserved domains which are essential to the regulatory role of the photoreceptor.