The purpose of this study was to identify actin-associated proteins in Chlamydomonas and determine their possible role in the fertilization process. We hypothesized that microvillus associated proteins in other systems would localize to the Chlamydomonas fertilization tubule. We identified three previously unknown hypothetical Chlamydomonas genes: hcVillin, hcFimbrin, and hcMyosin-I. Extensive database analysis revealed sequence similarities between these Chlamydomonas genes and villin, fimbrin, and myosin-like proteins in other systems. Sequence homology for all three genes was high especially in the highly conserved regions of these protein families that are critical for the protein function. We documented that these Chlamydomonas genes are expressed in both vegetative and gametic cells of both mating types using RT-PCR of mRNA. Absence of localization to the fertilization tubule suggests that either the commercial antibodies do not cross react with the Chlamydomonas proteins or that the Chlamydomonas fertilization tubule is not constructed like other microvilli.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TCU/oai:etd.tcu.edu:etd-05032006-083644 |
| Date | 03 May 2006 |
| Creators | Szopinski, Jennifer Jean |
| Contributors | Michael J Misamore |
| Publisher | Texas Christian University |
| Source Sets | Texas Christian University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf, application/msword |
| Source | http://etd.tcu.edu/etdfiles/available/etd-05032006-083644/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to TCU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
Page generated in 0.0016 seconds