WHOS WHO AMONG THE SACCHAROMYCES-CEREVISIAE ACTIN-RELATED PROTEINS - A CLASSIFICATION AND NOMENCLATURE PROPOSAL FOR A LARGE FAMILY

Inspection of the complete Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome sequence an d analysis of the actin-related proteins (ARPs) found therein revealed seven proteins, in addition to the previously designated actin-relate d proteins Arp1, Arp2 and Arp3, which contained substantial blocks of conservation relative to a chosen sub-set of actins. We have ordered t he new ARPs relative to this group of actins and propose to name the m ore distantly related ARP members, according to their amino acid ident ity and similarity, Arp4-Arp10. Most of these proteins appear to repre sent the first example of new classes of ARPs, each of which may have specific localization(s) and cellular function(s). Recently reported A RPs from other species have also been included in the phylogenetic tre e derived from the overall alignment of 29 actins and 28 ARPs. (C) 199 7 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.