title: Molecular characterization and expression of a divergent alpha-tubulin in planarian Schmidtea polychroa.
abstract: We report the cloning and sequencing of a cDNA from planarian Schmidtea polychroa (Platyhelminthes, Turbellaria, Tricladida) encoding for an unusual tubulin isoform (SpTub-1) which is specifically expressed in testis. Sequence comparison of SpTub-1 with other known tubulins reveals that it has the highest homology with alpha-tubulins, even though the analysis of the molecular features shows that this isoform is significantly divergent. Hybridization of SpTub-1 to restriction-digested genomic DNA to Southern blotting produced a multiple banding pattern indicating that in planarian, a tubulin multigene family exists. Using in situ hybridization, we showed that the transcript is specifically detectable in planarian testis, suggesting that it may play a role in spermatogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Perugia, Via Pascoli, 06123 Perugia, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Simoncelli
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sorbolini
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fagotti
authors.forename: Ines
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Di Rosa
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Porceddu
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pascolini
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D015870:Gene Expression; D017125:Genes, Protozoan; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010932:Planarians / Q000235:genetics*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013091:Spermatogenesis; D013737:Testis / Q000378:metabolism; D014404:Tubulin / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D014404:Tubulin