Immunological detection of actin in the 14S ciliary dynein of Tetrahymena.

The association of actin with Tetrahymena ciliary dyneins was examined using a polyclonal antibody against Tetrahymena actin. Western blotting shows that actin is present in the 14S dynein fraction, but not in the 22S dynein fraction, which comprises the outer arm. By anion-exchange chromatography, 14S dynein can be further separated into three major fractions that contain four distinct heavy chains in total. When each fraction was tested by anti-actin immunoblotting, all three fractions contained actin in nearly stoichiometric amounts with the heavy chain. Since Tetrahymena actin differs significantly from actins of other species, the association with inner-arm dynein may be a conserved property of actin.