ABSTRACT
RNA-binding proteins as well as RNA-protein complexes have been investigated in a variety o f living organisms, including microorganisms, animals and plants. This has led to the discovery o f several conserved protein motifs, such as RNA-recognition motifs (RRMs), glycine-rich domains, arginine-rich domains, SR-repeats, RD-repeats and zinc finger motifs.4"8 The RRM is the most widely found and best characterized RNA-binding motif. RNA-binding proteins containing RRMs at their N-terminus and a glycine-rich region at their C-terminus, thus referred to as glycine-rich RNA-binding proteins (GRPs), have been implicated in plant responses to environmental stimuli, and some progress has been made to uncover the roles o f GRPs in the responses o f plants to changing environmental conditions.
