Isolation and sequence analysis of a cDNA clone for a carrot calcium-dependent protein kinase: homology to calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinases and to calmodulin

Recently, a novel type of calcium-dependent protein kinase (CDPK) that requires neither calmodulin nor phospholipids for activation, has been described in plants. We have isolated a cDNA clone for carrot CDPK by probing a library of somatic embryo cDNAs with oligonucleotides corresponding to highly conserved regions of protein kinases. The product of this gene overexpressed in Escherichia coli reacted strongly with monoclonal antibodies to soybean CDPK. The deduced amino acid sequence of carrot CDPK reveals two major functional domains. An N-terminal catalytic domain with greatest homology to calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase type II from rat brain is coupled to a C-terminal calcium-binding domain resembling calmodulin. These features of the primary sequence explain how CDPK binds calcium and suggest a model for CDPK regulation based on similarities to animal calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinases.