Cloning and Sequence Analysis of Expansin Genes from Litchi chinensis Fruit

Using PCR degenerate primers, designed with reference to the sequences of the conserved amino acids of known expansins, to amplify cDNA fragments in litchi fruit by RT-PCR, two different cDNA fragments, named as Lc-Expl and Lc-Exp2, were cloned. Lc-Expl and Lc-Exp2 was respectively composed of 531 bp encoding 177 amino acids and 537 bp encoding 179 amino acids. Eight cysteine residues and three tryptopban residues, which is supposed to be the characteristics of expansins, are conserved in both Lc-Expl and e-Exp2. In addition, the homology between the two expansins is 71.6% at nucleotide acid sequences and 76.3% at amino acid sequences. The homology of Lc-Expl with Fa-Exp2 or Pp-Expl was 92.7% or 92.1%, but that of Lc-Exp2 with Fa-Exp2 or Pp-Expl was only 77.4% or 76.3% at amino acid sequences.