The properties of the microtubule network are regulated at various levels including tissue-dependent isotype switching, post-translational modification of αand β-tubulin, and by a variety of microtubuleassociated molecules (for reviews, see [1–3]). Microtubule nucleation is attributed to γ-tubulin, which is present in protein complexes at the centrosome and in the cytoplasm [4,5]. A screen for ...

An internal 1.4-kb Bst EII fragment was used to disrupt the benA gene and establish heterokaryons. The heterokaryons demonstrated that the molecular disruption of benA results in a recessive benA null mutation. Conidia from a heterokaryon swell and germinate but cannot undergo nuclear division and are thus inviable. A chimeric beta-tubulin gene was constructed with the benA promoter driving the...

The goal of our investigations is to define the genetic control of microtubule-based processes in a higher plant. The available evidence suggests that we have achieved our first objective: the characterization of the complete alpha-tubulin and beta-tubulin gene families of Arabidopsis. Four additional alpha-tubulin genes (TUA2, TUA4, TUA5, and TUA6) of Arabidopsis have been cloned and sequenced...

In naturally synchronous plasmodia of Physarum polycephalum, both tubulin and histone gene transcription define periodic cell cycle-regulated events. Using a slot-blot hybridization assay and Northern blot analysis, we have demonstrated that a major peak of accumulation of both alpha-tubulin and histone H4 transcripts occurs in late G2 phase. Nuclear transcription assays indicate that both gene...

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has two genes for alpha-tubulin, TUB1 and TUB3, and one beta-tubulin gene, TUB2. The gene product of TUB3, Tub3, represents approximately 10% of alpha-tubulin in the cell. We determined the effects of the two alpha-tubulin isotypes on microtubule dynamics in vitro. Tubulin was purified from wild-type and deletion strains lacking either Tub1 or Tub3, and parame...

In a survey on the biodiversity of Penicillium species in soils of the National Park of Urmia Lake (NW Iran), eight Penicillium isolates were isolated as members of the section Citrina. Based on a combination of cultural and morphological criteria, the isolates were identified as Penicillium anatolicum, P. sanguifluum,and P. sizovae. The identity of each species was further confirmed using sequ...

In an effort to study the regulation of tubulin gene transcription during sea urchin embryogenesis we isolated several genomic and cDNA clones encoding for a and j3 polypeptides (1,2). Here we report the sequence of a full length a tubulin cDNA. Comparison of the predicted amino acid sequence of the cDNA clone (a 1 tubulin), shown in Fig. 1, with that of other clones encoding for a different a ...

Microtubules are dynamic cytoskeletal polymers that mediate numerous, essential functions such as axon and dendrite growth and neuron migration throughout brain development. In recent years, sequencing has revealed dominant mutations that disrupt the tubulin protein building blocks of microtubules. These tubulin mutations lead to a spectrum of devastating brain malformations, complex neurologic...

In most eucaryotes the tubulin genes comprise small multigene families with approximately equal numbers of genes for alpha- and beta-tubulin, the structural proteins of microtubules. The recent isolation of tubulin mutations in several species is proving to be a powerful tool for examining the structure and function of specific sets of microtubules. In Drosophila melanogaster, genetic analysis ...