Synthesis and Accumulation of Calmodulin in Suspension Cultures of Carrot (Daucus carota L.)

The expression of calmodulin mRNA and protein were measured during a growth cycle of carrot (Daucus carota L.) cells grown in suspension culture. A full-length carrot calmodulin cDNA clone isolated from a lambdagt10 library was used to measure steady-state calmodulin mRNA levels. During the exponential phase of culture growth when mitotic activity and oxidative respiration rates were maximal, calmodulin mRNA levels were 4- to 5-fold higher than they were during the later stages of culture growth, when respiration rates were lower and growth was primarily by cell expansion. Net calmodulin polypeptide synthesis, as measured by pulse-labeling in vivo with [(35)S]methionine, paralleled the changes in calmodulin steady-state mRNA level during culture growth. As a consequence, net calmodulin polypeptide synthesis declined 5- to 10-fold during the later stages of culture growth. The qualitative spectrum of polypeptides synthesized and accumulated by the carrot cells during the course of a culture cycle, however, remained largely unchanged. Calmodulin polypeptide levels, in contrast to its net synthesis, remained relatively constant during the exponential phases of the culture growth cycle and increased during the later stages of culture growth. Our data are consistent with increased calmodulin polypeptide turnover associated with periods of rapid cell proliferation and high levels of respiration.