A Fragment of the rpoC2 Chloroplast RNA Polymerase Gene in Perennial and Annual Rye

A 1397-bp fragment corresponding to the rpoC2 chloroplast RNA polymerase gene was obtained by direct rye DNA amplification. Two rye species, Secale montanum Guss. and S. cereale L., did not practically differ in the structure of this DNA fragment (the nucleotide sequences were 99% identical). The corresponding nucleotide sequences in rye and wheat (Triticum aestivum L., Genbank accession no. AB027572) were 97–98% similar. The extent of the homology of various stretches of the rpoC2 rye gene with the corresponding sequences in maize and rice was 81–95%, whereas the deduced amino acid sequences of rpoC2 in rye, wheat, maize, and rice were considerably identical (96–97% of homology). The rye fragment of the rpoC2 gene differed from the corresponding sequences in three other grass species primarily by a short (49 bp) insert into the region of numerous short repeats corresponding to nucleotides 15750/15751, 28728/28729, and 27472/27473 in wheat, maize, and rice, respectively.