Molecular and biochemical characterization of two nucleoside diphosphate kinase cDNA clones from Flaveria bidentis

Two nucleoside diphosphate kinase cDNA clones have been isolated from Flaveria bidentis by immunoscreening of an expression library with a polyclonal antibody raised against Flaveria chloraefolia flavonol 3-sulfotransferase (F3-ST). The clones represent members of a small multigene family in this species. The nucleotide sequences of the two cDNA clones show a high degree of sequence similarity to other reported nucleoside diphosphate kinases (NDPKs), including the putative human tumor suppressor gene NM23 and the Drosophila regulatory gene. When these cDNA clones were expressed in Escherichia coli, their gene products exhibited NDPK enzymatic activity. The immunocross reaction of the clones with the antibody raised against the F3-ST suggests a common immuno-epitope and a similarity of a nucleotide binding site for the two proteins.