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Post-translational modification of tubulin dependent on organelle assembly

Nature volume 297, pages 516–518 (1982)Cite this article

Abstract

Microtubules are involved in a wide variety of cellular functions1–3 and are major components of many subcellular structures (for example, the centriole, mitotic spindle, cytoskeleton and flagellar apparatus). The ability of microtubules to serve in such a diversity of functions may be accounted for, at least in part, by heterogeneity in the constituent types of α- and β-tubulin subunits4–10 in different microtubules. Higher eukaryotes generally possess several tubulin genes and this may account for part of the heterogeneity of tubulin subunits11–13. However, the unicellular eukaryote, Chlamydomonas reinhardii, has only two α- and two β- tubulin genes14–16, which suggests that some of the variation in tubulin subunits seen in this organism5,8 may arise as a result of post-translational modification. This notion is supported by the experiments of Lefebvre et al.8 who compared flagellar tubulins with those produced by in vitro translation of tubulin mRNAs. Here we show that a form of α-tubulin subunit apparently confined to the Chlamydomonas cell body is converted, post-translationally, into a flagellar form of α-tubulin and that this modification is dependent on flagellar assembly. We discuss possible mechanisms for these modifications and their implications for the generation of unique types of microtubules having specialized functions within the cell.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Institute for Cancer Research, The Fox Chase Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19111, USA

    Karen J. Brunke, Philip S. Collis & Donald P. Weeks

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  1. Karen J. Brunke
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  2. Philip S. Collis
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  3. Donald P. Weeks
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Brunke, K., Collis, P. & Weeks, D. Post-translational modification of tubulin dependent on organelle assembly. Nature 297, 516–518 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/297516a0

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