title: The cloning and expression of  alpha-tubulin in  Monochamus alternatus.
abstract: The Japanese pine sawyer Monochamus alternatus is one of the major forest pests. It damages pine directly and transfers the nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus to pine wood; resulting in serious economic losses around the world every year. Alpha-tubulin is one of most important proteins in most species. We cloned a ubiquitously expressed M. alternatus alpha-tubulin gene and analysed its nucleotides and protein structure; its sequence characters are consistent with what have been reported in other insects. The alignment of proteins showed that there is high homology of alpha-tubulin between M. alternatus and other species. Western blot and immunocytochemistry analyses suggested a common epitope of alpha-tubulin between M. alternatus and Strongylcentrotus purpuratus. We also expressed the protein in Escherichia coli for further functional studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing,China.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: X-X
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Y-A
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Q-W
authors.initials: QW
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Z-W
authors.initials: ZW
authors.lastname: Zhao