Bundling of bovine and brine shrimp (Artemia) microtubules in vitro.

Cell-free extracts from embryos of the brine shrimp (Artemia) induced bundling of bovine microtubules assembled in the presence of glycerol and Mg++. Sedimentation of microtubules through sucrose cushions and subsequent electrophoresis revealed that bundling occurred independently of accessory proteins tightly bound to the microtubules. Bovine microtubules containing microtubule-associated proteins (MAPS) or assembled with taxol did not bundle. The unusual polymerization properties of homogeneous Artemia tubulin, bundling in the absence of added factors and the small number of microtubules assembled in crude embryo extracts upon addition of taxol precluded a complete comparative study of Artemia and bovine microtubule bundling. Interesting properties of the in vitro assembly of Artemia microtubules were, however, elaborated and putative Artemia MAPs were observed as a consequence of the work with brine shrimp embryos.