DETECTION OF A PLANT PROTEIN ANALOGOUS TO THE YEAST SPLICEOSOMAL PROTEIN, PRP8

We have investigated whether a spliceosomal protein analogous to the yeast protein, PRP8, was present in higher plants. A protein with a molecular weight > 200 kDa was detected in Western blots of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) nuclear extracts with affinity-purified antibodies, raised against four different beta-galactosidase-PRP8 fusion proteins. The > 200 kDa protein was also immunoprecipitated by antibodies against the snRNA-specific trimethylguanosine cap structure and was, therefore, snRNP-associated. The presence of this protein in plants, in addition to yeast, Drosophila and humans, and the conservation of large size and epitopes highlights the importance of PRP8 in pre-mRNA splicing.