Proteolytic analysis of polymerized maize tubulin: regulation of microtubule stability to low temperature and Ca2+ by the carboxyl terminus of beta-tubulin

1996 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 539-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. L. BOKROS ◽  
J. D. HUGDAHL ◽  
S. S. D. BLUMENTHAL ◽  
L. C. MOREJOHN
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faina Myachina ◽  
Fritz Bosshardt ◽  
Johannes Bischof ◽  
Moritz Kirschmann ◽  
Christian F. Lehner

Summary statementEctotherms thrive within an often remarkable temperature range. At low temperature, betaTub97EF, a beta-tubulin paralog stabilizing microtubules, is upregulated in a tissue-specific manner in the fly Drosophila melanogaster.AbstractCells in ectotherms function normally within an often wide temperature range. As temperature dependence is not uniform across all the distinct biological processes, acclimation presumably requires complex regulation. The molecular mechanisms coping with the disruptive effects of temperature variation are still poorly understood. Interestingly, one of five different beta-tubulin paralogs, betaTub97EF, was among the genes up-regulated at low temperature in cultured Drosophila cells. As microtubules are known to be cold-sensitive, we analyzed whether betaTub97EF protects microtubules at low temperatures. During development at the optimal temperature (25°C), betaTub97EF was expressed in a tissue-specific pattern primarily in the gut. There, as well as in hemocytes, expression was increased at low temperature (14°C). While betaTub97EF mutants were viable and fertile at 25°C, their sensitivity within the well-tolerated range was slightly enhanced during embryogenesis specifically at low temperatures. Changing beta-tubulin isoform ratios in hemocytes demonstrated that beta-Tubulin 97EF has a pronounced microtubule stabilizing effect. Moreover, betaTub97EF is required for normal microtubule stability in the gut. These results suggest that betaTub97EF up-regulation at low temperature contributes to acclimation by stabilizing microtubules.


1987 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. 3792-3798
Author(s):  
J L Fridovich-Keil ◽  
J F Bond ◽  
F Solomon

The relationship between the primary sequence of tubulins and their properties in cells was studied by gene transfection experiments. Previously, we studied a chimeric beta-tubulin formed from chicken beta-tubulin-2 sequences in the amino-terminal portion and the highly divergent Saccharomyces cerevisiae TUB2 sequences in the carboxy-terminal 25% of the molecule. In the cytoplasm of cultured animal cells, this protein incorporates into all microtubule structures and assembles with the same efficiency as endogenous tubulin. We show that the protein products of chimeric genes with an increasing proportion of yeast sequence, extending 5' of the carboxy-terminal 25%, are abnormal in two ways. First, they assemble with a significantly lower efficiency than the original chimeric protein or the endogenous tubulins. Second, they are less stable in the cytoplasm. The results suggest that the position of the yeast sequences is crucial in determining the properties of the molecule. Results of analyses of 1 deletion mutation and 10 linker insertions in the original chimeric tubulin suggest that those changes made outside the carboxyl terminus completely disrupt assembly activity, while those made in the carboxyl terminus do not.


1988 ◽  
Vol 263 (28) ◽  
pp. 14566-14573
Author(s):  
B A Boggs ◽  
A M Minotti ◽  
L M Loeb ◽  
R Cook ◽  
F Cabral

1995 ◽  
Vol 108 (1) ◽  
pp. 357-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Saoudi ◽  
I. Paintrand ◽  
L. Multigner ◽  
D. Job

The acidic carboxy-terminal regions of alpha- and beta-tubulin subunits are currently thought to be centrally involved in microtubule stability and in microtubule association with a variety of proteins (MAPs) such as MAP2 and tau proteins. Here, pure tubulin microtubules were exposed to subtilisin to produce polymers composed of cleaved tubulin subunits lacking carboxy termini. Polymer exposure to subtilisin was achieved in buffer conditions compatible with further tests of microtubule stability. Microtubules composed of normal alpha-tubulin and cleaved beta-tubulin were indistinguishable from control microtubules with regard to resistance to dilution-induced disassembly, to cold temperature-induced disassembly and to Ca(2+)-induced disassembly. Microtubules composed of cleaved alpha- and beta-tubulins showed normal sensitivity to dilution-induced disassembly and to low temperature-induced disassembly, but marked resistance to Ca(2+)-induced disassembly. Polymers composed of normal alpha-tubulin and cleaved beta-tubulin or of cleaved alpha- and beta-tubulins were stabilized in the presence of added MAP2, myelin basic protein and histone H1. Cleavage of tubulin carboxy termini greatly potentiated microtubule stabilization by tau proteins. We show that this potentiation of polymer stabilization can be ascribed to tau-induced microtubule bundling. In our working conditions, such bundling upon association with tau proteins occurred only in the case of microtubules composed of cleaved alpha- and beta-tubulins and triggered apparent microtubule cross-stabilization among the bundled polymers. These results, as well as immunofluorescence analysis, which directly showed interactions between subtilisin-treated microtubules and MAPs, suggest that the carboxy termini of alpha- and beta-tubulins are not primarily involved in the binding of MAPs onto microtubules. However, interactions between tubulin carboxy termini and MAPs remain possible and might be involved in the regulation of MAP-induced microtubule bundling.


1987 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. 3792-3798 ◽  
Author(s):  
J L Fridovich-Keil ◽  
J F Bond ◽  
F Solomon

The relationship between the primary sequence of tubulins and their properties in cells was studied by gene transfection experiments. Previously, we studied a chimeric beta-tubulin formed from chicken beta-tubulin-2 sequences in the amino-terminal portion and the highly divergent Saccharomyces cerevisiae TUB2 sequences in the carboxy-terminal 25% of the molecule. In the cytoplasm of cultured animal cells, this protein incorporates into all microtubule structures and assembles with the same efficiency as endogenous tubulin. We show that the protein products of chimeric genes with an increasing proportion of yeast sequence, extending 5' of the carboxy-terminal 25%, are abnormal in two ways. First, they assemble with a significantly lower efficiency than the original chimeric protein or the endogenous tubulins. Second, they are less stable in the cytoplasm. The results suggest that the position of the yeast sequences is crucial in determining the properties of the molecule. Results of analyses of 1 deletion mutation and 10 linker insertions in the original chimeric tubulin suggest that those changes made outside the carboxyl terminus completely disrupt assembly activity, while those made in the carboxyl terminus do not.


1991 ◽  
Vol 113 (3) ◽  
pp. 605-614 ◽  
Author(s):  
M J Schibler ◽  
B Huang

The colR4 and colR15 beta 2-tubulin missense mutations for lysine-350 in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (Lee and Huang, 1990) were originally isolated by selection for resistance to the growth inhibitory effects of colchicine. The colR4 and colR15 mutants have been found to be cross resistant to vinblastine and several classes of antimitotic herbicides, including the dinitroanilines (oryzalin, trifluralin, profluralin, and ethafluralin); the phosphoric amide amiprophos methyl; and the dimethyl propynl benzamide pronamide. Like colchicine and vinblastine, the antimitotic effects of these plant-specific herbicides have been associated with the depolymerization of microtubules. In contrast to their resistance to microtubule-depolymerizing drugs, the mutants have an increased sensitivity to taxol, a drug which enhances the polymerization and stability of microtubules. This pattern of altered sensitivity to different microtubule inhibitors was found to cosegregate and corevert with the beta-tubulin mutations providing the first genetic evidence that the in vivo herbicidal effects of the dinitroanilines, amiprophos methyl, and pronamide are related to microtubule function. Although wild-type like in their growth characteristics, the colR4 and colR15 mutants were found to have an altered pattern of microtubules containing acetylated alpha-tubulin, a posttranslational modification that has been associated with stable subsets of microtubules found in a variety of cells. Microtubules in the interphase cytoplasm and those of the intranuclear spindle of mitotic cells, which in wild-type Chlamydomonas cells do not contain acetylated alpha-tubulin, were found to be acetylated in the mutants. These data taken together suggest that the colR4 and colR15 missense mutations increase the stability of the microtubules into which the mutant beta-tubulins are incorporated and that the altered drug sensitivities of the mutants are a consequence of this enhanced microtubule stability.


Author(s):  
P.P.K. Smith

Grains of pigeonite, a calcium-poor silicate mineral of the pyroxene group, from the Whin Sill dolerite have been ion-thinned and examined by TEM. The pigeonite is strongly zoned chemically from the composition Wo8En64FS28 in the core to Wo13En34FS53 at the rim. Two phase transformations have occurred during the cooling of this pigeonite:- exsolution of augite, a more calcic pyroxene, and inversion of the pigeonite from the high- temperature C face-centred form to the low-temperature primitive form, with the formation of antiphase boundaries (APB's). Different sequences of these exsolution and inversion reactions, together with different nucleation mechanisms of the augite, have created three distinct microstructures depending on the position in the grain.In the core of the grains small platelets of augite about 0.02μm thick have farmed parallel to the (001) plane (Fig. 1). These are thought to have exsolved by homogeneous nucleation. Subsequently the inversion of the pigeonite has led to the creation of APB's.


Author(s):  
S. Edith Taylor ◽  
Patrick Echlin ◽  
May McKoon ◽  
Thomas L. Hayes

Low temperature x-ray microanalysis (LTXM) of solid biological materials has been documented for Lemna minor L. root tips. This discussion will be limited to a demonstration of LTXM for measuring relative elemental distributions of P,S,Cl and K species within whole cells of tobacco leaves.Mature Wisconsin-38 tobacco was grown in the greenhouse at the University of California, Berkeley and picked daily from the mid-stalk position (leaf #9). The tissue was excised from the right of the mid rib and rapidly frozen in liquid nitrogen slush. It was then placed into an Amray biochamber and maintained at 103K. Fracture faces of the tissue were prepared and carbon-coated in the biochamber. The prepared sample was transferred from the biochamber to the Amray 1000A SEM equipped with a cold stage to maintain low temperatures at 103K. Analyses were performed using a tungsten source with accelerating voltages of 17.5 to 20 KV and beam currents from 1-2nA.


Author(s):  
P. Echlin ◽  
M. McKoon ◽  
E.S. Taylor ◽  
C.E. Thomas ◽  
K.L. Maloney ◽  
...  

Although sections of frozen salt solutions have been used as standards for x-ray microanalysis, such solutions are less useful when analysed in the bulk form. They are poor thermal and electrical conductors and severe phase separation occurs during the cooling process. Following a suggestion by Whitecross et al we have made up a series of salt solutions containing a small amount of graphite to improve the sample conductivity. In addition, we have incorporated a polymer to ensure the formation of microcrystalline ice and a consequent homogenity of salt dispersion within the frozen matrix. The mixtures have been used to standardize the analytical procedures applied to frozen hydrated bulk specimens based on the peak/background analytical method and to measure the absolute concentration of elements in developing roots.


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