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Cloning and structural analysis of an Indian little millet (Panicum sumatrense) zein-like storage protein:
S Sivakumar1, O L Franco, B Thayumanavan
1Center for Plant Molecular Biology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore-641 003, India. subarayansivakumar@yahoo.com
Abstract:
Zeins are prolamin storage proteins that accumulate in kernel endosperm of several cereals. For cloning of genes coding for zein-like proteins that accumulate in enhanced quantities in the filling stages of little millet (Panicum sumatrense Roth.) developing grains, RT-PCR was performed using specific primers. A 750-bp cDNA was directly sequenced and in silico analysis showed high identity degree to alpha-prolamins. This family is composed of zeins from Zea mays, coixins from Coix lachryma-jobi, and alpha-kafirins from Sorghum bicolor. The putative conserved domain of zein-like proteins was identified by primary structure comparisons. Furthermore, threading analyses indicated that the millet zein-like protein forms an anti-parallel alpha-helical hairpin with two opposite surfaces: one hydrophobic and the other hydrophilic that probably could be involved in protein storage assembly. Knowledge about zein-like alpha-prolamins in little millet will lead to cloning and transfer of this gene to other major food crops, such as cereals and legumes, with inferior nutritional quality for monogastric animals.
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