Abstract
Germin and germin like-proteins (GLPs) genes have been isolated from many plant species, so it has been proposed that GLPs are present in all plants. GLP gene are encoded by multigene family, but their physiological functions have not been cleared. Our laboratory isolated for the first time a GLP with Mn-SOD activity outside the cell in a moss, Barbula unguiculata.
To examine molecular evolution of plant GLPs, we used a moss, Physcomitrella patens which is an excellent model for gene analysis. We identified at least 7 GLP genes from Physcomitrella EST Gen Bank. All of 7 gene products contained N-terminal signal sequences, suggesting that these proteins were targeted to the outside of the cell. We sequenced 2 GLP genes from the genome library. Molecular phylogenetic analysis based on GLP genes revealed that Physcomitrella GLP oroteins showed a divergence from those described in higher plant.
