Algae. 2000; 15(4): 201-208.

Characterization of Novel Thioredoxin-like Proteins in Prophyra yezoensis

Eun Kyoung Lee, Yung-Jin Kim

Red algae Prophyra are well adapted to environmental stress such as salt and drought stress. The expressed sequence tags of Porphyra yezoensis were previously generated in order to identify genes involved in stress-tolerant protein. The expression pattern of the thioredoxin-like protein under stress conditions was examined by RT-PCR. I was highly expressed under drought stress, whereas little changes were observed under salt stress. The multialignment of the amino acid sequence of thioredoxin family in various species including Prophyra indicated the thioredoxin-like protein was quite different from other thioredoxins. Futhermore, the thioredoxin-like protein revealed no protein from RT-PCR process. Both of the transcripts contained identical N-terminal region but were quite different in C-terminal region. Based on the result, thioredoxin genes of P. yezoensis are presumed to exist as several isoforms like other thioredoxin genes.