Physicochemical and serological characterization of rice alpha-amylase isoforms and identification of their corresponding genes.

We have identified, purified, and characterized 10 alpha-amylase isoforms from suspension-cultured rice (Oryza sativa L.) cells having different isoelectric point values. They had distinguishable optimum temperatures for enzymatic activity and molecular sizes. The results of immunoblotting indicated that polyclonal anti-A + B antibodies bound well to isoforms A, B, Y, and Z but weakly or not at all to E, F, G, H, I, and J. However, the anti-A + B antibodies inhibited the enzyme activities of only isoforms A and B. Polyclonal anti-H antibodies strongly bound to isoforms F, G, H, I, and J, whereas polyclonal anti-E antibodies preferentially recognized isoform E. A monoclonal antibody against isoform H (H-G49) inhibited the activities of isoforms E, G, H, I, and J, whereas it did not inhibit those of isoforms A, B, Y, and Z. Judging from their physicochemical and serological properties, we classified the rice alpha-amylase isoforms into two major classes, class I (A, B, Y, and Z) and class II (E, F, G, H, I, and J), and into four subgroups, group 1 (A and B), group 2 (Y and Z), group 3 (E), and group 4 (F, G, H, I, and J). Partial amino acid sequences for isoforms A, E, G, and H were also determined. In addition, the recombinant alpha-amylases expressed by plasmid pEno/103 containing the rice alpha-amylase gene RAmy1A in yeast were identified as both isoforms A and B. These analyses indicated that isoforms A and B were encoded by the gene RAmy1A, isoforms G and H were encoded by the gene RAmy3D, and isoform E was encoded by RAmy3E. The results strongly suggest that some isoforms within subgroups are formed by posttranslational modifications.