XVI International Botanical Congess
XVI International Botanical Congess
Extensins form a specific class of cell wall proteins in plants. They are considered to be structural proteins because of their repetitive sequences. Recently, a number of proteins containing extensin motifs associated with various unrelated domains have been described. These chimeric proteins might have a wide range of functions in the cell wall. We have found in tomato a gene encoding an extensin-like protein which contains an LRR domain. Two homologous genes are present in Arabidopsis and we are currently investigating these two genes. They are both expressed in roots and are present as single genes in the genome. As LRRs are known to mediate protein-protein interactions in eukaryotic cells, these chimeric proteins are candidates for molecules involved in signalling in the cell wall. ( f(÷¿Ö  ,ó¿Ö ¤âb ‰Y0 è#ö¿ ÖÂ_ÿ