Isolation of a full-length cDNA encoding Zea mays gamma-tubulin

Recently we obtained a PCR fragment of a maize (Zea mays) gamma -tubulin nucleotide sequence. A cDNA encoding a full-length gamma -tubulin was isolated by screening a Mexican sweet corn suspension culture cell cDNA library using the PCR fragment as a hybridization probe. A similar clone was isolated from a maize (inbred line B73) leaf cDNA library and sequence comparison shows that the two cDNAs correspond to the same maize gamma -tubulin gene, which we have named Zmtubg1. Comparison of the nucleotide and amino acid sequence of the maize cDNA with published gamma -tubulin sequences aided in the identification of an open reading frame. The maize cDNA was found to encode a protein of 469 amino acids. A comparison of the deduced amino acid sequence of the maize cDNA with previously reported gamma -tubulin sequences shows that maize gamma -tubulin shares 63% identity (88% similarity) with the A. nidulans sequence and between 65 and 71% identity (87-91% similarity) with the other reported animal and fungal sequences.