Characterization of the alpha-tubulin gene family of Arabidopsis thaliana.

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Abstract
The genome of Arabidopsis thaliana (Linnaeus) Heynhold was shown to contain an .alpha.-tubulin gene family consisting of at least four genes and/or pseudogenes. The primary structure of a transcribed .alpha.-tubulin gene was determined. A comparison of the predicted amino acid sequence of the A. thaliana .alpha.-tubulin with the predicted amino acid sequences of .alpha.-tubulins of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, Stylonychia lemnae, and Homo sapiens reveals a high degree of homology; 90%, 87%, and 83% identity, respectively. Thus, a plant .alpha.-tubulin exhibits a high degree of homology to the .alpha.-tubulins of protists and animals. The coding sequence of the A. thaliana .alpha.-tubulin gene is interrupted by four introns, which occur at positions different from those of the less numerous introns of C. reinhardtii and rat .alpha.-tubulin genes. S4 nuclease mapping data showed that transcription is initiated 99 .+-. 1 base pairs upstream from the translation initiation codon. Both 5'' and 3'' noncoding gene-specific probes were used to examine the expression of the .alpha.-tubulin gene in leaves, roots, and flowers by hybridization to total RNA isolated from these tissues. The results showed that the .alpha.-tubulin gene was transcribed in all three tissues.