Cloning and molecular characterization of an Arabidopsis thaliana RING zinc finger gene expressed preferentially during seed development

The RING (Really Interesting New Gene) finger is a zinc-binding domain that is found in proteins from a variety of species. This paper reports the cloning and characterization of, as yet, only the second RING finger protein gene from plants, A-RZF, in Arabidopsis thaliana. In addition to the RING-finger motif, A-RZF also contains a putative nuclear localization signal. A-RZF is encoded by a single copy gene with an intron of 595 bp interrupting the 5' leader sequence and the coding region. Northern blot analysis indicated that A-RZF is expressed preferentially during seed development. The RING-finger motif, putative nuclear localization signal, and unique expression pattern, predict an important role during seed development for A-RZF.