Key result
The Dictyostelium discoideum essential myosin light chain cDNA was isolated and sequenced, revealing 31.5% amino acid identity with chicken EMLC and increased mRNA expression during early development.
The isolation and sequencing of the Dictyostelium EMLC gene reveals structural homology to muscle myosins and demonstrates developmental regulation of its expression during chemotaxis.
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Does not inform clinical practice; leaves open conserved developmental roles for myosin light chains in cardiac models.
We used an antibody specific for Dictyostelium discoideum myosin to screen a lambda gt11 cDNA expression library to obtain cDNA clones which encode the Dictyostelium essential myosin light chain (EMLC). The amino acid sequence predicted from the sequence of the cDNA clone showed 31.5% identity with the amino acid sequence of the chicken EMLC. Comparisons of the Dictyostelium EMLC, a nonmuscle cell type, with EMLC sequences from similar MLCs of skeletal- and smooth-muscle origin, showed distinct regions of homology. Much of the observed homology was localized to regions corresponding to consensus Ca2+-binding of E-F hand domains. Southern blot analysis suggested that the Dictyostelium genome contains a single gene encoding the EMLC. Examination of the pattern of EMLC mRNA expression showed that a significant increase in EMLC message levels occurred during the first few hours of development, coinciding with increased actin expression and immediately preceding the period of maximal chemotactic activity.
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Chisholm et al. (1988) studied this question. The Dictyostelium discoideum essential myosin light chain cDNA was isolated and sequenced, revealing 31.5% amino acid identity with chicken EMLC and increased mRNA expression during early development.
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