PROSITE logo
Black ribbon
We are deeply saddened by the passing of Amos Bairoch (1957–2025), the creator of PROSITE. We wish to dedicate our latest paper, published shortly before his death, to him. He will always be a source of inspiration to us.
Our deepest condolences go out to his family and friends, and to all those who had the privilege of working with him. Rest in peace, Amos. Your work will live on long after you are gone.
Amos Bairoch

PROSITE documentation PDOC00725
Gamma-thionins family signature


View entry in original PROSITE document format
View entry in raw text format (no links)
PURL: https://purl.expasy.org/prosite/documentation/PDOC00725

Description

The following small plant proteins are evolutionary related:

  • γ-thionins from wheat endosperm (γ-purothionins) and barley (γ- hordothionins) which are toxic to animal cells and inhibit protein synthesis in cell free systems [1].
  • A flower-specific thionin (FST) from tobacco [2].
  • Antifungal proteins (AFP) from the seeds of Brassicaceae species such as radish, mustard, turnip and Arabidopsis thaliana [3].
  • Inhibitors of insect α-amylases from sorghum [4].
  • Probable protease inhibitor P322 from potato.
  • A germination-related protein from cowpea [5].
  • Anther-specific protein SF18 from sunflower [6]. SF18 is a protein that contains a γ-thionin domain at its N-terminus and a proline-rich C- terminal domain.
  • Soybean sulfur-rich protein SE60 [7].
  • Vicia faba antibacterial peptides fabatin-1 and -2.

In their mature form, these proteins generally consist of about 45 to 50 amino-acid residues. As shown in the following schematic representation, these peptides contain eight conserved cysteines involved in disulfide bonds.

          +-------------------------------------------+
          |          +-------------------+            |
          |          |                   |            |
        xxCxxxxxxxxxxCxxxxxCxxxCxxxxxxxxxCxxxxxxCxCxxxC
        *******************|***|                | |
                           +---|----------------+ |
                               +------------------+
'C': conserved cysteine involved in a disulfide bond.
'*': position of the pattern.
Last update:

December 2004 / Pattern and text revised.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Technical section

PROSITE method (with tools and information) covered by this documentation:

GAMMA_THIONIN, PS00940; Gamma-thionins family signature  (PATTERN)


References

1AuthorsBruix M. Jimenez M.A. Santoro J. Gonzalez C. Colilla F.J. Mendez E. Rico M.
TitleSolution structure of gamma 1-H and gamma 1-P thionins from barley and wheat endosperm determined by 1H-NMR: a structural motif common to toxic arthropod proteins.
SourceBiochemistry 32:715-724(1993).
PubMed ID8380707

2AuthorsGu Q. Kawata E.E. Morse M.-J. Wu H.-M. Cheung A.Y.
TitleA flower-specific cDNA encoding a novel thionin in tobacco.
SourceMol. Gen. Genet. 234:89-96(1992).
PubMed ID1495489

3AuthorsTerras F.R.G. Torrekens S. van Leuven F. Osborn R.W. Vanderleyden J. Cammue B.P.A. Broekaert W.F.
TitleA new family of basic cysteine-rich plant antifungal proteins from Brassicaceae species.
SourceFEBS Lett. 316:233-240(1993).
PubMed ID8422949

4AuthorsBloch C. Jr. Richardson M.
TitleA new family of small (5 kDa) protein inhibitors of insect alpha-amylases from seeds or sorghum (Sorghum bicolar (L) Moench) have sequence homologies with wheat gamma-purothionins.
SourceFEBS Lett. 279:101-104(1991).
PubMed ID1995329

5AuthorsIshibashi N. Yamauchi D. Miniamikawa T.
TitleStored mRNA in cotyledons of Vigna unguiculata seeds: nucleotide sequence of cloned cDNA for a stored mRNA and induction of its synthesis by precocious germination.
SourcePlant Mol. Biol. 15:59-64(1990).
PubMed ID2103443

6AuthorsDomon C. Evrard J.L. Herdenberger F. Pillay D.T. Steinmetz A.
TitleNucleotide sequence of two anther-specific cDNAs from sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.).
SourcePlant Mol. Biol. 15:643-646(1990).
PubMed ID2102380

7AuthorsChoi Y. Choi Y.D. Lee J.S.
TitleNucleotide sequence of a cDNA encoding a low molecular weight sulfur-rich protein in soybean seeds.
SourcePlant Physiol. 101:699-700(1993).
PubMed ID8278516
DOI101/2/699



PROSITE is copyrighted by the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics and distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License, see prosite_license.html.