Plant Molecular Biology

, Volume 27, Issue 4, pp 715–727 | Cite as

The Pisum sativum TubA1 gene, a member of a small family of α-tubulin sequences

  • Heidi L. Brierley
  • Philippa Webster
  • Sharon R. Long
Research Article
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

α- and β-tubulin proteins are subunits of microtubules, which as primary elements of the plant cytoskeleton play major roles in plant cell division and cell morphogenesis. Several higher-plant α- and β-tubulin gene families have been reported to have at least six to nine members each. Using genomic Southern hybridizations and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) experiments, we have found that the Pisum sativum (garden pea) genome has only four copies of α-tubulin sequences and a similar number of β-tubulin sequences. We have characterized the pea α-tubulin gene TubA1. Its nucleotide sequence predicts a 452 amino acid product which is 89–98% identical to those predicted for other plant α-tubulins. By S1 nuclease analysis we have located the transcript start site at 102 bases upstream of the ATG. We have also shown that the TubA1 gene is expressed by northern hybridization with a gene-specific probe.

Key words

pea Pisum sativum tubulin 
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Copyright information

© Kluwer Academic Publishers 1995

Authors and Affiliations

  • Heidi L. Brierley
    • 1
  • Philippa Webster
    • 1
  • Sharon R. Long
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of Biological SciencesStanford UniversityStanfordUSA

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