Tubulin gene expression during growth and maturation of leaves with different developmental patterns

Changes in the tubulin-protein and -poly(A) +RNA contents were monitored by means of Western and Northern blot analyses, respectively, during growth and maturation of leaves of a dicotyledonous (tobacco) and monocotyledonous (barley) plant. It was recently argued from immunofluorescence and preliminary biochemical data that the density of microtubular networks and concomitantly the tubulin content are distinctly reduced after cessation of cell growth in leaves [Jung et al., 1993]. The results presented now confirm and extend this view. There appeared to be clear differences between the monocot and the dicot: (1) the loss of tubulin during leaf development was much slower in the dicot than in the monocot leaves (within months instead of days); (2) the degree of loss was more dramatic in the monocot leaf and only very low threshold levels of tubulin were retained in fully differentiated tissues; and (3) the loss of tubulin in the monocot leaf tissue appeared to be correlated with the decrease in the mRNA content, whereas the high level of tubulin-RNA in fully differentiated or even almost senescent dicot leaves indicated a gene expression control at the posttranscriptional level. The comparatively rapid and very distinct tubulin-protein and -RNA disappearance during development of the monocot leaf tissues confirm at the molecular level that differentiation proceeds much faster and is much more determinative in these leaves, as was postulated from histological and physiological data.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)