Chlamydomonas IFT172 is encoded by FLA11, interacts with CrEB1, and regulates IFT at the flagellar tip.

The transport of flagellar precursors and removal of turnover products from the flagellar tip is mediated by intraflagellar transport (IFT) , which is essential for both flagellar assembly and maintenance . Large groups of IFT particles are moved from the flagellar base to the tip by kinesin-2, and smaller groups are returned to the base by cytoplasmic dynein 1b. The IFT particles are composed of two protein complexes, A and B, comprising approximately 16-18 polypeptides. How cargo is unloaded from IFT particles, turnover products loaded, and active IFT motors exchanged at the tip is unknown. We previously showed that the Chlamydomonas microtubule end binding protein 1 (CrEB1) localizes to the flagellar tip and is depleted from the tips of the temperature-sensitive (ts) mutant fla11ts . We demonstrate here that FLA11 encodes IFT protein 172, a component of IFT complex B, and show that IFT172 interacts with CrEB1. Because fla11ts cells are defective in IFT particle turnaround at the tip, our results indicate that IFT172 is involved in regulating the transition between anterograde and retrograde IFT at the tip, perhaps by a mechanism involving CrEB1. Therefore, IFT172 is involved in the control of flagellar assembly/disassembly at the tip.