Chlamydomonas alpha-tubulin is posttranslationally modified in the flagella during flagellar assembly.
Year: 1983
Type: article
Abstract: The principal alpha-tubulin within Chlamydomonas reinhardtii flagellar axonemes differs from the major alpha-tubulin in the cell body. We show that these two isoelectric variants of alpha-tubulin are related to one another since posttranslational modification of the cell body precursor form converts it to the axonemal form. During flagellar assembly, precursor alpha-tubulin enters the flagella and is posttranslationally modified within the flagellar matrix fraction prior to or at the time of its addition to the growing axonemal microtubules. Experiments designed to identify the nature of this posttranslational modification have also been conducted. When flagella are induced to assemble in the absence of de novo protein synthesis, tritiated acetate can be used to posttranslationally label alpha-tubulin in vivo and, under these conditions, no other flagellar polypeptides exhibit detectable labeling.
Source: The Journal of Cell Biology
DOI: 10.1083/jcb.97.1.258
Authors: S W L'Hernault, J L Rosenbaum
Language: English
Subfield: Genetics
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
Award: G667489912
OpenAlex ID: W2025963872