Previously our group has cloned C. elegans
osm-3 gene by transformation rescue of the
osm-3 mutants (Shakir et al., 1993), and shown that it shares homology with the mouse KIF3A/KIF3B (Hirokawa, 1996) and sea urchin KRP85/95 (Scholey, 1996) heteromeric kinesins. We also showed using an
osm-3:: lacZ reporter gene that it expresses in an exclusive set of 26 chemosensory neurons, that are exposed to the outside environment through a hole in the animal cuticle (Tabish et al.; 1995). In a search for heterotrimeric kinesin proteins, Kinesin-II, as proposed by Scholey, 1996; we have identfied and sequenced new cDNA clones which encode KLP-10, KLP-11, and KLP-18, kinesins which share high homology with OSM-3 in the motor domain. Following the suggestion of Wademan et al., 1996, we have also cloned and sequenced a cDNA encoding nematode KAP-1, that harbors ten repeats of the armadillo motif (Khan et al., 1999; submitted). Here we report that the OSM-3 homolog KLP-11 on Northern blot analysis reveals two distinct bands, the larger of the two bands is about to 4.5 kb and the other is about 2.6 kb, suggesting mutiple transcripts of the
klp-11 gene. On the other hand,
kap-1 cDNA encodes a transcript of 2.1 kb and appears to encode a single class of mRNA. Gene expression studies using the embryonic in situ hybridization reveals that the
osm-3 and
kap-1 display similar pattern of expression in the head and tail ganglia, corresponding to the sensory neurons. Post-embryonically this expression remains high in the head and tail of the developing larvae. However, expression of
klp-11 is much broader, it expresses in motor neurons and other cells, in addition to the
osm-3 expressing sensory cells. The other two members of this family, KLP-10 and KLP-18, are highly homologous to each other (96%), but differ significantly from OSM-3 and KLP-11 kinesin, sugggesting a subfamily within the OSM-3 family. Data on promoter gene fusion and immunocytochemistry of some of these members will be presented. We thank M.L. A. Khan, Y. Kohara, J. Miwa, Y. Ohshima, A. Otsuka, D. T-Mieg, and S. Jones for support. Funds were provided by Monbusho in support of basic research to SSS.