抄録
Conjugation in Blepharisma japonicum is induced by interaction between complementary mating-types I and II, which excrete blepharmone (gamone 1) and blepharismone (gamone 2), respectively. Gamone 1 transforms type II cells such that they can unite, and gamone 2 similarly transforms type I cells. Moreover, each gamone promotes the production of the other gamone. Gamone 2 has been identified as calcium-3-(2-formylamino-5-hydroxybenzoyl) lactate and has been synthesized chemically. Gamone 1 was first isolated and characterized as a glycoprotein of 20-30 kDa containing 175 amino acids and 6 sugars. The 305 amino acid sequence of gamone 1 was determined by Harumoto et al from gamone 1 cDNA, the N-terminus for the protein, however, could not found suggesting the modification of N-terminal amino acid of gamone 1. This time we identified by MALDI-TOFF MS analyses the N-terminus for gamone 1 as glutamine^<28> modified to be pyroglutamine. And also, we determined the structure and the position for the glycan moiety of the gamone 1, using the purified glyopeptides obtained by the chymotrypsin or pronase digestion. Six types of structural heterogeneity was observed for the glycan of gamone 1, and the glycans being attached to N^<141>, N^<149>, N^<165. and N^<213> glutamines which have the consensus sequence of NX[ST].
