Tubulin gene families

Lai, E. Y., Remillard, S. P. and Fulton, C. (1988) The alpha-tubulin gene family expressed during cell differentiation in Naegleria gruberi. J. Cell. Biol. 106 2035 2046. 

Several different gene families encode the various proteins that make up the cytoskeleton. These proteins are present in varying amounts In almost all cells. In vertebrates, the major cytoskeletal proteins are the actins, tubulins, and intermediate filament proteins like the keratins. We examined the origin of one such family, the tubulin... 

In land plants and algae, the prokaryotic fis and min genes involved in plastid division and cpDNA replication have been discovered. The products of the min genes-MinD and MinE-interact with the tubulin-like FtsZ protein, which participates in plastid division. FtsZ is encoded by a nuclear gene family. The minD and minE genes in C. vulgaris and G. theta are located in cpDNA. 

Multigene families have been detected for several structural proteins including collagen, actin, tubulin, keratin, and chorion. Clearly, also, different isoenzymes may, in some cases, represent the products of gene families that have... 

---