Actin and tubulin are cytoskeleton proteins, which are
important components of the celland are conserved across
species. Despite their crucial significance in cell motility
and cell division the distribution and phylogeny of actin
and tubulin genes across taxa is poorly understood. Here
we used publicly available genomic data of 49 model species
of plants, animals, fungi and Protista for further
understanding the distribution of these genes among
diverse eukaryotic species using rice as reference. The
highest numbers of rice actin and tubulin gene homologs
were present in plants followed by animals, fungi and
Protista species, whereas ten actin and nine tubulin genes
were conserved in all 49 species. Phylogenetic analysis of
19 actin and 18 tubulin genes clustered them into four
major groups each. One each of the actin and tubulin gene
clusters was conserved across eukaryotic species. Species
trees based on the conserved actin and tubulin genes
showed evolutionary relationship of 49 different taxa
clustered into plants, animals, fungi and Protista. This study
provides a phylogenetic insight into the evolution of actin
and tubulin genes in diverse eukaryotic species.
