DOI: 10.1073/pnas.012516899. Genes for the cytoskeletal protein tubulin in the bacterial genus <i>Prosthecobacter</i>

Genes for the cytoskeletal protein tubulin in the bacterial genus Prosthecobacter

10.1073/pnas.012516899

Crossref journal-article

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (341)

Abstract

Tubulins, the protein constituents of the microtubule cytoskeleton, are present in all known eukaryotes but have never been found in the Bacteria or Archaea. Here we report the presence of two tubulin-like genes [bacterial tubulin a ( btuba ) and bacterial tubulin b ( btubb )] in bacteria of the genus Prosthecobacter (Division Verrucomicrobia). In this study, we investigated the organization and expression of these genes and conducted a comparative analysis of the bacterial and eukaryotic protein sequences, focusing on their phylogeny and 3D structures. The btuba and btubb genes are arranged as adjacent loci within the genome along with a kinesin light chain gene homolog. RT-PCR experiments indicate that these three genes are cotranscribed, and a probable promoter was identified upstream of btuba . On the basis of comparative modeling data, we predict that the Prosthecobacter tubulins are monomeric, unlike eukaryotic α and β tubulins, which form dimers and are therefore unlikely to form microtubule-like structures. Phylogenetic analyses indicate that the Prosthecobacter tubulins are quite divergent and do not support recent horizontal transfer of the genes from a eukaryote. The discovery of genes for tubulin in a bacterial genus may offer new insights into the evolution of the cytoskeleton.

Bibliography

Jenkins, C., Samudrala, R., Anderson, I., Hedlund, B. P., Petroni, G., Michailova, N., Pinel, N., Overbeek, R., Rosati, G., & Staley, J. T. (2002). Genes for the cytoskeletal protein tubulin in the bacterial genus Prosthecobacter. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 99(26), 17049â17054.

Authors 10

Cheryl Jenkins (first)
Ram Samudrala (additional)
Iain Anderson (additional)
Brian P. Hedlund (additional)
Giulio Petroni (additional)
Natasha Michailova (additional)
Nicolas Pinel (additional)
Ross Overbeek (additional)
Giovanna Rosati (additional)
James T. Staley (additional)

References 27 Referenced 146

10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a025576
10.1073/pnas.032658599
Stanier R. Y. (1970) Symp. Soc. Gen. Microbiol.20,1-38. / Symp. Soc. Gen. Microbiol. by Stanier R. Y. (1970)
10.1128/mr.58.3.387-400.1994
10.1038/34465
10.1038/34472
10.1038/359254a0
10.1098/rstb.1995.0107
10.1016/S0092-8674(01)00584-0
10.1073/pnas.030438197
10.1016/0968-4328(93)90025-V
10.1099/00207713-23-3-271
10.1093/nar/23.6.1087
Nicholas K. B., Nicholas, H. B., Jr. & Deerfield, D. W., II (1997) EMBNEW.NEWS4,14. / EMBNEW.NEWS by Nicholas K. B. (1997)
10.1002/(SICI)1097-0134(1997)1 <43::AID-PROT7>3.0.CO;2-P
10.1186/1472-6807-2-3
Felsenstein J. (1989) Cladistics5,164-166. / Cladistics by Felsenstein J. (1989)
10.1016/S0960-9822(00)00414-0
10.1006/jmbi.2001.5077
10.1016/S0092-8674(00)80961-7
10.1107/S0021889891004399
10.1016/S0076-6879(97)77028-9
10.1006/jmbi.1997.1479
10.1016/S0959-437X(98)80028-2
10.1016/S0959-437X(05)80192-3
10.1016/0092-8674(95)90486-7
10.1016/S0960-9822(98)70216-7

Dates

Type	When
Created	22 years, 7 months ago (Dec. 23, 2002, 1:14 p.m.)
Deposited	3 years, 4 months ago (April 12, 2022, 8:43 a.m.)
Indexed	3 months, 2 weeks ago (May 1, 2025, 11:40 a.m.)
Issued	22 years, 8 months ago (Dec. 16, 2002)
Published	22 years, 8 months ago (Dec. 16, 2002)
Published Online	22 years, 8 months ago (Dec. 16, 2002)
Published Print	22 years, 7 months ago (Dec. 24, 2002)

Funders 0

None

BibTeX

@article{Jenkins_2002, title={Genes for the cytoskeletal protein tubulin in the bacterial genus Prosthecobacter}, volume={99}, ISSN={1091-6490}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.012516899}, DOI={10.1073/pnas.012516899}, number={26}, journal={Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, publisher={Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, author={Jenkins, Cheryl and Samudrala, Ram and Anderson, Iain and Hedlund, Brian P. and Petroni, Giulio and Michailova, Natasha and Pinel, Nicolas and Overbeek, Ross and Rosati, Giovanna and Staley, James T.}, year={2002}, month=dec, pages={17049–17054} }

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  "abstract": "<jats:p>\n            Tubulins, the protein constituents of the microtubule cytoskeleton, are present in all known eukaryotes but have never been found in the Bacteria or Archaea. Here we report the presence of two tubulin-like genes [bacterial tubulin a (\n            <jats:italic>btuba</jats:italic>\n            ) and bacterial tubulin b (\n            <jats:italic>btubb</jats:italic>\n            )] in bacteria of the genus\n            <jats:italic>Prosthecobacter</jats:italic>\n            (Division Verrucomicrobia). In this study, we investigated the organization and expression of these genes and conducted a comparative analysis of the bacterial and eukaryotic protein sequences, focusing on their phylogeny and 3D structures. The\n            <jats:italic>btuba</jats:italic>\n            and\n            <jats:italic>btubb</jats:italic>\n            genes are arranged as adjacent loci within the genome along with a kinesin light chain gene homolog. RT-PCR experiments indicate that these three genes are cotranscribed, and a probable promoter was identified upstream of\n            <jats:italic>btuba</jats:italic>\n            . On the basis of comparative modeling data, we predict that the\n            <jats:italic>Prosthecobacter</jats:italic>\n            tubulins are monomeric, unlike eukaryotic \u03b1 and \u03b2 tubulins, which form dimers and are therefore unlikely to form microtubule-like structures. Phylogenetic analyses indicate that the\n            <jats:italic>Prosthecobacter</jats:italic>\n            tubulins are quite divergent and do not support recent horizontal transfer of the genes from a eukaryote. The discovery of genes for tubulin in a bacterial genus may offer new insights into the evolution of the cytoskeleton.\n          </jats:p>",
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