Posttranslational Modifications in the Amino- Terminal Region of the Large Subunit of Ribulose- 1,5-Bisphosphate Carboxylase/Oxygenase from Several Plant Species

A combination of limited tryptic proteolysis, reverse phasehigh performance liquid chromatography, Edman degradative sequencing, amino acid analysis, and fast-atom bombardment mass-spectrometry was used to remove and identify the first 14 to 18 N-terminal amino acid residues of the large subunit of higher plant-type ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, Marchantia polymorpha, pea ( Pisum sativum ), tomato ( Lycopersicon esculentum ), potato ( Solanum tuberosum ), pepper ( Capsicum annuum ), soybean ( Glycine max ), petunia ( Petunia x hybrida ), cowpea ( Vigna sinensis ), and cucumber ( Cucumis sativus ) plants. The N-terminal tryptic peptide from acetylated Pro-3 to Lys-8 of the large subunit of Rubisco was identical in all species, but the amino acid sequence of the penultimate N-terminal tryptic peptide varied. Eight of the 10 species examined contained a trimethyllysyl residue at position 14 in the large subunit of Rubisco, whereas Chlamydomonas and Marchantia contained an unmodified lysyl residue at this position.