Selective expression of the tba-1 alpha tubulin gene in a set of mechanosensory and motor neurons during the development of Caenorhabditis elegans.

In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, a monoclonal antibody 3A5 raised against Drosophila alpha tubulins selectively stains the nervous system immuno-cytochemically. Direct screening of a C. elegans cDNA expression library with 3A5 has allowed cloning of the tba-1 (tubulin alpha-1) gene from C. elegans. The corresponding genomic DNA encodes a protein of 449 amino acid residues that has a high homology with the vertebrate alpha tubulins but a lower homology with yeast alpha tubulins. Interestingly, the carboxyl-terminus sequence EEEGEEY (Glu-Glu-Glu-Gly-Glu-Glu-Tyr) of the nematode tba-1 encoded isotype is identical to these residues in human, mouse, rat, pig and chicken alpha-1 tubulin isotypes that are expressed in the brain. Temporal and spatial expression studies of the tba-1 gene using Northern blot analysis and tba-1::lacZ fusion gene expression analysis during embryonic and the postembryonic development of C. elegans reveal that the tba-1 tubulin is preferentially expressed in the nematode nervous system, especially in a set of mechanosensory neurons and a set of ventral cord motor neurons (DA, DB, VA, and VB) during embryonic and postembryonic development. Our results indicate an inter-species conservation of the alpha tubulin carboxyl-terminal domain in functionally related brain specific isotypes from metazoans as divergent as mammals and nematodes. These results also suggest specificity of the individual alpha tubulin isotypes during neural development.