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. 1984 Mar;81(5):1440–1444. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.5.1440

Tubulins from different higher plant species are immunologically nonidentical and bind colchicine differentially

Louis C Morejohn 1,*, Thomas E Bureau 1,†, Lee P Tocchi 1, Donald E Fosket 1,‡
PMCID: PMC344851  PMID: 16593430

Abstract

We have initiated immunological and drug-binding studies on the tubulins from different higher plant species. Antibodies were raised against electrophoretically separated rose (Rosa sp.) tubulin α- and β-subunits and characterized by immunoblot autoradiographic assays. Each IgG preparation bound to its antigen and cross-reacted differentially with the respective tubulin subunits from an alga, sea urchin, rabbit, and cow. Antigenic determinants were shared more among the β-subunits than among the α-subunits from these organisms. Tubulins were isolated from cultured cells of carrot (Daucus carota) and hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-senensis). Immunoautoradiography and quantitation of cross-reactivity on blots showed nonidentity among homologous subunits from rose, carrot, hibiscus, and alga tubulins, with more antigenic differences among α-subunits than among β-subunits. Comparative colchicine-binding assays showed that rose and hibiscus tubulins bound 33% and 65%, respectively, of the colchicine bound by carrot tubulin and that higher plant tubulins bound much less colchicine than bovine brain tubulin under identical conditions.

Keywords: microtubules, cultured plant cells, tubulin antibodies, immunoautoradiography, antimicrotubule drugs

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Selected References

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