DNA sequence and pattern of expression of the sea urchin (Paracentrotus lividus) alpha-tubulin genes.

To study the molecular aspects of the regulation of transcription of a multigene family, we have isolated and sequenced cDNA and genomic clones coding for the alpha-tubulin of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus. Two cDNA clones, P alpha 10 and P alpha 4, contain respectively the coding information for 391 C-terminal and for 338 N-terminal amino acids of the 452 residues that constitute the complete protein. They show silent nucleotide substitutions only, suggesting that P alpha 10 and P alpha 4 represent the cloned copies of two allelic gene transcripts, which encode for two alpha-tubulin isoforms with identical amino acid sequence in the region of the overlap. The comparison of the predi…