Nucleotide and primary sequence of a major rice prolamine

A recombinant cDNA clone encoding a major rice seed storage prolamine was isolated by antibody screening of a cDNA lambda gt 11 library. This clone contained a single open reading frame encoding a putative rice prolamine precursor (Mr 17,300). In contrast to other cereal prolamines, the primary sequence of the rice prolamine was devoid of any major tandem repetitive sequences, a feature prevalent in all cereal prolamines studied to date. No significant homology was detected between the rice prolamine and other cereal prolamines, indicating that the rice gene evolved from unique ancestral DNA segments.