cDNA cloning of β-tubulin gene and organization of tubulin genes in Vigna radiata (mung bean) genome

Abstract

We isolated an almost full-length cDNA clone containing β-tubulin gene from a partial cDNA library of mung bean using chicken cDNA as probe. Cross-hybridization with chicken β-tubulin cDNA and positive hybridization-selection and translation of mung bean mRNA established that this clone contains β -tubulin sequences. We studied the organization of tubulin genes in mung bean. In this plant tubulin genes are organized in tandem repeats of alternating α- and β-tubulin genes. The 5.6 kb basis repeat unit which contains both α- and β-tubulin genes is repeated twenty times per haploid genome.