The MsK family of alfalfa protein kinase genes encodes homologues of shaggy/glycogen synthase kinase-3 and shows differential expression patterns in plant organs and development |
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| Authors: | Aniko Pay Claudia Jonak Laszlo Bögre Irute Meskiene Theresia Mairinger Aladar Szalay Erwin Heberle-Bors Heribert Hirt |
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| Institution: | Institute of Microbiology and Genetics, University of Vienna, Dr. Bohrgasse 9, 1030 Vienna, Austria;Plant Molecular Genetics, 6–30 Medical Science Building, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada T6G 2H7;Institute of Botany, Lithuanian Academy of Science, Vilnius 2039, Lithuania |
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| Abstract: | This paper reports on the isolation of a novel class of plant serine/threonine protein kinase genes, MsK-1 , MsK-2 and MsK-3 . They belong to the superfamily of cdc2 -like genes, but show highest identity to the Drosophila shaggy and rat GSK-3 proteins (66–70%). All of these kinases share a highly conserved catalytic protein kinase domain. Different amino-terminal extensions distinguish the different proteins. The different plant kinases do not originate from differential processing of the same gene as is found for shaggy , but are encoded by different members of a gene family. Similarly to the shaggy kinases, the plant kinases show different organ-specific and stage-specific developmental expression patterns. Since the shaggy kinases play an important role in intercellular communication in Drosophila development, the MsK kinases are expected to perform a similar function in plants. |
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