Abstract:

Through bioinformatics and the RT-PCR assay,a novel zinc finger protein gene,belonging to TFⅢA type,was cloned from rice and designated as OsZPT3-1,which is specifically expressed in rice panicles,but not detected in culms,leaves,anthers and roots at the adult stage.OsZPT3-1 is 1104 bp in length and its complete opening read frame(ORF) is 1092 bp encoding a protein of 363 amino acid residues.The OsZPT3-1 contains three C₂H₂ zinc finger motifs and only the third zinc finger has a conserved QALGGH sequence,belonging to B-type zinc finger.There was a Leu-rich region with consensus of LXLXL in the C-terminal of OsZPT3-1,which might function as a transcription repressor.Promoter analysis revealed three MADS-box transcription factor recognition sites existing in OsZPT3-1 promoter.Taken together,it can be speculated that OsZPT3-1 may play a key regulatory role in the development of panicle by repressing gene expression under the control of MADS-box transcription factors.

Key words: rice, zinc finger protein, gene cloning, expression analysis

摘要： 利用生物信息学和RTPCR方法从水稻中克隆鉴定了一个新的具有TFⅢA型锌指结构的锌指蛋白基因，其开放阅读框为1092 bp，编码363个氨基酸残基。组织表达谱结果表明，该基因只在水稻幼穗组织中表达，在成株期的根、叶、茎以及花药中不表达，将其命名为OsZPT31。序列分析表明OsZPT31具有3个C2H2型锌指结构，在氨基酸的C端没有典型的转录抑制区域DLNbox，但LXLXL的结构仍然表明OsZPT31可能是一个转录抑制因子。对OsZPT31启动子区域进行预测，结果发现3个MADSbox转录因子识别位点，推测OsZPT31可能在MADSbox转录因子的调节下，通过抑制下游基因的表达在水稻穗部器官的生长发育过程中发挥重要的调控作用。

关键词: 水稻, 锌指蛋白, 基因克隆, 表达分析