Molecular cloning of a putative abstrakt gene from Plasmodium falciparum and sequence analysis of different DEAD-box proteins

Abstract

The ATP-dependent RNA helicases of the DEAD-box family, involved in almost every cellular process of RNA metabolism, play many essential roles during cell development and growth in almost all organisms. In this study, FH1F, the full-length gene of a putative Abstrakt, was isolated by screening the genomic library of Plasmodium falciparum. FH1F was inferred located in the chromosome 5 in the whole genome. FH1F is composed of 2 804 bp and encodes a predicted protein of 386 aa. Alignment analysis of the predicted protein sequence with many typical DEAD-box proteins suggested FH1F protein was an Abstrakt of DEAD-box family. By phylogenetic analysis we realized that DEAD-box proteins assembled into different subgroups. Then we listed different organization of conserved motifs in Abstrakt, eIF-4A, Vasa, P68 proteins as compared to the general DEAD-box protein consensus, and pointed out the novel residue substitutions in Abstrakt proteins in the highly conserved positions. Our analysis will be important for providing general insights into the structural characteristics of different DEAD-box proteins [Acta Zoologica Sinica 50 (3): 420-430, 2004].