Purification and sequence determination of an RNA ligase from wheat embryos

Wheat embryos have an RNA ligase activity that catalyses ligation of RNA molecules between the 5'-hydroxyl and 2',3'-cyclic phosphate termini. In contrast to yeast tRNA ligase, which ligates tRNA half molecules specifically, the wheat enzyme acts on various RNA substrates. It has been suggested that RNA ligase plays some unknown roles in vivo other than the maturation of tRNA. Here, we report purification of the enzyme and determination of the protease-digested peptide sequences. The sequences showed homologies to three database cDNA clones from Oryza sativa and Arabidopsis thaliana.