Plant Physiol, February 2000, Vol. 122, pp. 433-446

Major Protein of Resting Rhizomes of Calystegia sepium (Hedge Bindweed) Closely Resembles Plant RNases But Has No Enzymatic Activity¹

Laboratory for Phytopathology and Plant Protection, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Willem de Croylaan 42, 3001 Leuven, Belgium (E.J.M.V.D., Q.H., W.J.P.); Institut de Pharmacologie et Biologie Structurale, Unité Propre de Recherche Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique 9062, 205 Route de Narbonne, 31077 Toulouse cedex, France (A.B., P.R.); and Center for Human Genetics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3001 Leuven, Belgium (F.V.L.).

The most abundant protein of resting rhizomes of Calystegia sepium (L.) R.Br. (hedge bindweed) has been isolated and its corresponding cDNA cloned. The native protein consists of a single polypeptide of 212 amino acid residues and occurs as a mixture of glycosylated and unglycosylated isoforms. Both forms are derived from the same preproprotein containing a signal peptide and a C-terminal propeptide. Analysis of the deduced amino acid sequence indicated that the C. sepium protein shows high sequence identity and structural similarity with plant RNases. However, no RNase activity could be detected in highly purified preparations of the protein. This apparent lack of activity results most probably from the replacement of a conserved His residue, which is essential for the catalytic activity of plant RNases. Our findings not only demonstrate the occurrence of a catalytically inactive variant of an S-like RNase, but also provide further evidence that genes encoding storage proteins may have evolved from genes encoding enzymes or other biologically active proteins.