Taddei A R, Gambellini G, Fausto A M, Baldacci A, Mazzini M
Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy.
J Submicrosc Cytol Pathol. 2000 Oct;32(4):635-43.
The existence of distinct tubulins in microtubules forming the sperm axoneme has been demonstrated in various species, whereas little is known about the distribution of tubulin variants in insect spermatozoa. In the present study, a panel of specific antibodies has been used to investigate the presence and localization of tubulin isotypes and post-translationally modified tubulins in the spermatozoon of the stick insect Bacillus rossius. Indirect immunofluorescence and immunogold staining showed differences in labelling in the mature sperm and that the tubulin epitopes localized differentially in the axoneme. In particular, the tyrosinated alpha-tubulin mainly occurs on doublets. These results provide an insight into the molecular composition of the microtubules forming the sperm axoneme of B. rossius and suggest that the structural specificity could reflect distinct functional roles within axonemal microtubules.
在各种物种中，已证明构成精子轴丝的微管中存在不同的微管蛋白，而关于昆虫精子中微管蛋白变体的分布却知之甚少。在本研究中，一组特异性抗体被用于研究竹节虫巴氏竹节虫精子中微管蛋白同种型和翻译后修饰微管蛋白的存在及定位。间接免疫荧光和免疫金染色显示成熟精子中的标记存在差异，且微管蛋白表位在轴丝中的定位也不同。特别是，酪氨酸化的α-微管蛋白主要出现在双联体上。这些结果为构成巴氏竹节虫精子轴丝的微管的分子组成提供了见解，并表明这种结构特异性可能反映了轴丝微管内不同的功能作用。
