Protein Phosphorylation during Coconut Zygotic
Embryo
Development1
Ignacio Islas-Flores,
Carlos Oropeza, and
S.M. Teresa Hernández-Sotomayor*
Unidad de Biología Experimental, Centro de
Investigación Científica de Yucatán, Apdo. Postal
87, Cordemex, Yucatán 97310, Mexico
Evidence was obtained on the
occurrence of protein threonine, serine, and tyrosine (Tyr) kinases in
developing coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) zygotic embryos,
based on in vitro phosphorylation of proteins in the presence of
[
-32P]ATP, alkaline treatment, and thin-layer
chromatography analysis, which showed the presence of
[32P]phosphoserine, [32P]phosphothreonine,
and [32P]phosphotyrosine in [32P]-labeled
protein hydrolyzates. Tyr kinase activity was further confirmed in
extracts of embryos at different stages of development using
antiphosphotyrosine monoclonal antibodies and the synthetic peptide
derived from the amino acid sequence surrounding the phosphorylation site in pp60src (RR-SRC), which is specific for Tyr
kinases. Anti-phosphotyrosine western blotting revealed a changing
profile of Tyr-phosphorylated proteins during embryo development. Tyr
kinase activity, as assayed using RR-SRC, also changed during embryo
development, showing two peaks of activity, one during early and
another during late embryo development. In addition, the use of
genistein, a Tyr kinase inhibitor, diminished the ability of extracts
to phosphorylate RR-SRC. Results presented here show the occurrence of
threonine, serine, and Tyr kinases in developing coconut zygotic
embryos, and suggest that protein phosphorylation, and the possible
inference of Tyr phosphorylation in particular, may play a role in the
coordination of the development of embryos in this species.
1
This work was supported by Fogarty International
Research Collaboration Award (grant no. RO3TW00263), the Consejo
Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT) (grant no.
0014P-N9506), the Commission of the European Communities EC-STD
(grant no. ERBTS3*CT940298), and a CONACYT Fellowship to I.I.-F. (no.
89535).
*
Corresponding author; e-mail ths{at}cicy.cicy.mx; fax
1-91-81-3900.
Plant Physiol. (1998) 118: 257-263
Copyright Clearance Center: 0032-0889/98/118//07
© 1998 American Society of Plant Physiologists