Molecular basis for extensin size heterogeneity in two maize varieties

This study concerned the molecular basis for the protein size heterogeneity of extensin from two maize (Zea mays L.) varieties. We studied the physical properties of extensin, a hydroxyproline-rich glycoprotein (HRGP), from the silk and pericarp of Golden X Bantam (GXB) sweet corn and Japanese Hulless (JHL) popcorn. Extensin from GXB has a molecular mass of 66 kDa whereas extensins from JHL have molecular masses of 76 and 66 kDa. Treatment with anhydrous hydrogen fluoride to deglycosylate proteins reduced the size of all extensins by 5 kDa. Probing with a 500 bp fragment from a genomic clone of maize extensin identified two transcripts (1.9 and 1.5 kb) on northern blots. JHL contained both transcripts and GXB contained only the 1.5 kb transcript. The probe also hybridized to two larger transcripts (6.2 and 4.5 kb) that were found in both varieties. We immunoprecipitated two proteins (66 and 56 kDa) from translated RNA isolated from JHL and one protein (56 kDa) from GXB. These results demonstrate that these extensins differ in the size of their peptide moiety and not in their extent of glycosylation.