Biology (Dec 2021)

Molecular Characterization and Functional Localization of a Novel SUMOylation Gene in <i>Oryza sativa</i>

  • Eid I. Ibrahim,
  • Kotb A. Attia,
  • Abdelhalim I. Ghazy,
  • Kimiko Itoh,
  • Fahad N. Almajhdi,
  • Abdullah A. Al-Doss

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11010053
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
p. 53

Abstract

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Small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO) regulates the cellular function of diverse proteins through post-translational modifications. The current study defined a new homolog of SUMO genes in the rice genome and named it OsSUMO7. Putative protein analysis of OsSUMO7 detected SUMOylation features, including di-glycine (GG) and consensus motifs (ΨKXE/D) for the SUMOylation site. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated the high homology of OsSUMO7 with identified rice SUMO genes, which indicates that the OsSUMO7 gene is an evolutionarily conserved SUMO member. RT-PCR analysis revealed that OsSUMO7 was constitutively expressed in all plant organs. Bioinformatic analysis defined the physicochemical properties and structural model prediction of OsSUMO7 proteins. A red fluorescent protein (DsRed), fused with the OsSUMO7 protein, was expressed and localized mainly in the nucleus and formed nuclear subdomain structures. The fusion proteins of SUMO-conjugating enzymes with the OsSUMO7 protein were co-expressed and co-localized in the nucleus and formed nuclear subdomains. This indicated that the OsSUMO7 precursor is processed, activated, and transported to the nucleus through the SUMOylation system of the plant cell.

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