Molecular Cloning and Characterization of a Gene Encoding Eukaryotic Initiation Factor iso4E in Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)

The eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) and its isoform, eIF(iso)4E, play important roles in protein translation and recently reported to be involved in plant–virus interactions. A cDNA encoding the tomato eIF(iso)4E was cloned based on a tentative consensus (TC170275) in TIGR (), and was designated as SleIF(iso)4E, with an open reading frame of 603 nucleotides encoding a protein of 200 amino acids. The calculated molecular weight of the SleIF(iso)4E protein was 22.85 kD, and the theoretical isoelectric point was 5.76. The amino acid sequence of SleIF(iso)4E showed 66–91% identity with eIF(iso)4Es in pepper, tobacco, pea and maize, and 44–51% identity with eIF4Es from other plants. The phylogenetic relationship and tertiary structure comparisons indicate that SleIF(iso)4E share high homology and strict conserved regions with other members of the eIF4E family, a characteristic of all members of this family. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR showed varying expression levels of SleIF(iso)4E in different tissues. By comparing eIF(iso)4E coding sequences between resistant and susceptible tomato genotypes, correlation between sequence variations and virus resistance was identified. These findings provide good grounds for future research on the role of SleIF(iso)4E in translation initiation and plant–virus interactions. Sequence data of SleIF(iso)4E from this article have been deposited at GenBank under accession number EU119958.