Cold-adapted tubulins in the glacier ice worm, Mesenchytraeus solifugus

Gene
Lawrence J Tartaglia, D H Shain

Abstract

Glacier ice worms, Mesenchytraeus solifugus and related species, are the only known annelids that survive obligately in glacier ice and snow. One fundamental component of cold temperature adaptation is the ability to polymerize tubulin, which typically depolymerizes at low physiological temperatures (e.g., <10 degrees C) in most temperate species. In this study, we isolated two alpha-tubulin (Msalpha1, Msalpha2) and two beta-tubulin (Msbeta1, Msbeta2) subunits from an ice worm cDNA library, and compared their predicted amino acid sequences with homologues from other cold-adapted organisms (e.g., Antarctic fish, ciliate) in an effort to identify species-specific amino acid substitutions that contribute to cold temperature-dependent tubulin polymerization. Our comparisons and predicted protein structures suggest that ice worm-specific amino acid substitutions stabilize lateral contact associations, particularly between beta-tubulin protofilaments, but these substitutions occur at different positions in comparison with other cold-adapted tubulins. The ice worm tubulin gene family appears relatively small, comprising one primary alpha- and one primary beta-tubulin monomers, though minor isoforms and pseudogenes were identified. Our...Continue Reading

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Citations

Dec 19, 2013·PloS One·Marymegan DalyRobert Zook
Apr 19, 2012·Cell Cycle·Pamela A Padilla, Mary L Ladage
Mar 13, 2015·FEMS Microbiology Ecology·Takumi MurakamiYuichi Hongoh
Jan 23, 2019·Cytoskeleton·Catherine L Pham, Naomi S Morrissette

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