Cloning and sequence analysis of zeaxanthin epoxidase gene (ZEP) isolated from Triticum aestivum L.

A wheat(Triticum aestivum L.cv.Chinese Spring) Zeaxanthin epoxidase(ZEP) cDNA was cloned using RT-PCR in this paper,which had the sequence length of 1572 bp,encoding 540 amino acids including FAD binding site and the central unknown functional domain.Analysis of phylogenetic tree revealed that ZEP gene of Triticum aestivum shared in high identity with that of Oryza sativa. In addition,more divergence was found in C-terminal from 3'RACE RT-PCR carried out on wheat and its related species widely used in chromosome engineering such as amphiploid and translocation.The present study would be helpful for the further understanding of the interaction between genomic groups as well as their regulations on photosynthetic genes.