ISSN:
0886-1544
Keywords:
tubulin
;
isoforms
;
Atlantic cod
;
Antarctic fish
;
evolutionary aspects
;
video microscopy
;
Life and Medical Sciences
;
Cell & Developmental Biology
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
Notes:
The dynamic instability of microtubules free of microtubule-associated proteins from two genera of cold-living fishes was measured, by means of video-enhanced differential interference-contrast microscopy, at temperatures near those of their habitats. Brain microtubules were isolated from the boreal Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua; habitat temperature ∽ 2-15°C) and from two austral Antarctic rockcods (Notothenia gibberifrons and N. coriiceps neglecta; habitat temperature ∽ -1.8 to + 2°C). Critical concentrations for polymerization of the fish tubulins were in the neighborhood of 1 mg/ml, consistent with high interdimer affinities. Rates of elongation and frequencies of growth-to-shortening transitions (“catastrophes”) for fish microtubules were significantly smaller than those for mammalian microtubules. Slow dynamics is therefore an intrinsic property of these fish tubulins, presumably reflecting their adaptation to low temperatures. Two-dimensional electrophoresis showed striking differences between the isoform compositions of the cod and the rockcod tubulins, which suggests that the cold-adapted microtubule phenotypes of northern and southern fishes may have arisen independently. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Additional Material:
4 Ill.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cm.970280406
