LAUSR

Secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2) are low molecular weight proteins (12–18 kDa) involved in a suite of plant cellular processes imparting growth and development. With myriad roles in physiological and biochemical processes in plants, detailed analysis of sPLA2 in flax/linseed is meagre. The present work, first in flax, embodies cloning, expression, purification and molecular characterisation of two distinct sPLA2s (I and II) from flax. PLA2 activity of the cloned sPLA2s were biochemically assayed authenticating them as bona fide phospholipase A2. Physiochemical properties of both the sPLA2s revealed they are thermostable proteins requiring di-valent cations for optimum activity.While, structural analysis of both the proteins revealed deviations in the amino acid sequence at C- & N-terminal regions; hydropathic study revealed LusPLA2I as a hydrophobic protein and LusPLA2II as a hydrophilic protein. Structural analysis of flax sPLA2s revealed that secondary structure of both the proteins are dominated by α-helix followed by random coils. Modular superimposition of LusPLA2 isoforms with rice sPLA2 confirmed monomeric structural preservation among plant phospholipase A2 and provided insight into structure of folded flax sPLA2s.