Sequence of three members and expression of a new major subfamily of glutelin genes from rice

Three members have been isolated of an additional glutelin gene subfamily, named subfamily B, consisting of about five members per haploid rice genome. Restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis showed major differences between Japonica and Indica lines, indicating the divergence of the subfamily since the split between the two varieties. While corresponding exons of the subfamily B showed 80 to 88% nucleotide sequence homology, those exons were only 60–65% homologous to those of the glutelin A subfamily [15, 19, 24], distinguishing them from the subfamily A. Intron position and derived polypeptide structure, in addition to the nucleotide sequence, confirm the subfamily B members as glutelins. Analysis of RNA from seeds of different stages of development showed that the subfamily B members were expressed at the same time as those of subfamily A, demonstrating coordinated regulation of the two subfamilies.