[Low molecular weight GTPase of the rac family from the bovine retina. Structure of cDNA and its expression in a prokaryotic system].

cDNA with a high degree of homology to the rac1 gene of the Ras-like protein from the HL-60 cell line was isolated from a bovine retina cDNA library. The homologies of the nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences were 90 and 98%, respectively. The product of cDNA expression in E. coli cells purified by chromatography displayed GTP-binding and GTPase activities. The data suggest that the Rac1 protein is one of the low-molecular GTP-binding proteins in photoreceptor membranes of vertebrates.