Diffusion rather than intraflagellar transport likely provides most of the tubulin required for axonemal assembly in Chlamydomonas.

ABSTRACT: Tubulin enters the cilium by diffusion and motor-based intraflagellar transport (IFT). However, the respective contribution of each route in providing tubulin for axonemal assembly remains unknown. Using Chlamydomonas, we attenuated IFT-based tubulin transport of GFP-β-tubulin by altering the IFT74N-IFT81N tubulin-binding module and the C-terminal E-hook of tubulin. E-hook-deficient GFP-β-tubulin was incorporated into the axonemal microtubules, but its transport frequency by IFT was reduced by ∼90% in control cells and essentially abolished when the tubulin-binding site of IFT81 was incapacitated. Despite the strong reduction in IFT, the proportion of E-hook-deficient GFP-β-tubulin in the axoneme was only moderately reduced. In vivo imaging showed more GFP-β-tubulin particles entering cili

SUBMITTER: Craft Van De Weghe J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7502601 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature