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Updated: Aug 29, 2026

Aip1p Dynamics Are Altered by the R256H Mutation in Actin
Published on: July 30, 2014
A novel family of unconventional actins in volvocalean algae
Takako Kato-Minoura1, Masayo Okumura, Masafumi Hirono
1Department of Cell Biology, National Institute for Basic Biology, Okazaki 444-8585, Japan. mtakako@biol.tsukuba.ac.jp
Abstract:
The unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii has two actin genes, one encoding a conventional actin (90% amino acid identity with mammalian actin), the other a highly divergent actin (64% identity) named novel actin-like protein (NAP). To see whether the presence of conventional and unconventional actins in a single organism is unique to C. reinhardtii, we searched for genomic sequences related to the NAP sequence in several other species of volvocalean algae. Here we show that Chlamydomonas moewusii and Volvox carteri also have, in addition to a conventional actin, an unconventional actin similar to the C. reinhardtii NAP. Analyses of the deduced protein sequences indicated that the NAP homologues form a distinct group derived from conventional actin.
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