Worm Breeder's Gazette 10(1): 43

These abstracts should not be cited in bibliographies. Material contained herein should be treated as personal communication and should be cited as such only with the consent of the author.

A Lucky Artifact

T. Rosenquist and J. Kimble

Figure 1

We have inadvertently isolated a partial cDNA clone to a C.  elegans 
protein kinase.  The amino acid sequence deduced from the nucleotide 
sequence of this clone is shown below aligned with several protein 
kinases.  The clone contains two sequence elements (DFG and APE) that 
are diagnostic of protein kinases.  A third diagnostic element (RDL) 
would not lie within the peptide encoded by this clone.  These three 
sequence elements are believed to fall within the active site of 
protein kinases.  This clone lacks a tyrosine residue about 14 amino 
acids upstream of the APE box which is a hallmark of protein tyrosine 
kinases.  In addition, Protein Kinase C gives the best alignment 
scores with this sequence.  These observations lead us to believe that 
this clone is from a serine or threonine kinase.  The sequence of a 
larger clone is needed to identify the specific kinase class to which 
this protein belongs.  If anybody wishes to collaborate with us in the 
characterization of this protein kinase please give us a call.
[See Figure 1]

Figure 1