The Arabidopsis thaliana PIN1At gene encodes a single-domain phosphorylation-dependent peptidyl prolyl cis/trans isomerase

A homologue of the human site-specific prolyl cis/trans isomerase PIN1 was identified in Arabidopsis thaliana. The PIN1At gene encodes a protein of 119 amino acids that is 53% identical with the catalytic domain of the human PIN1 parvulin. Steady-state PIN1At mRNA is found in all plant tissues tested. We show by two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy that the PIN1At is a prolyl cis/trans isomerase with specificity for phosphoserine-proline bonds. PIN1At is the first example of an eukaryotic parvulin without N- or C-terminal extensions. The N-terminal WW domain of 40 amino acids, typical of all the phosphorylation-dependent eukaryotic parvulins, is absent. However, triple-resonance NMR experiments showed that PIN1At contained a hydrophobic helix similar to the al helix observed in PIN1 that could mediate the protein-protein interactions.