Abstract
Kinesin is a motor protein that plays many roles in intracellular transport, mitosis and meiosis, and axonal flow in nerve system along microtuble with converting chemical energy from ATP into mechanical force. Kinesin family is classified into some subfamilies. Some species of kinesin derived from vertebrate have been well studied on their characterization. However, not so many studies for kinesins of plants have been done yet. To understand the physiological role of the kinesin form rice, we prepared cDNA of eight kinds of kinesins (rice specific and plant specific N-terminal motor domain) with PCR. The kinesin cDNA were cloned into expression vector pET15b, were transformed into E.coli BL21(DE3), and were expressed kinesin proteins. We performed biochemical analysis: ATPase assays, MT pelleting assays and formation of kinesin-ADP-Pi analog complexes, and compared with the data of mouse kinesin and C. elegans we have previously reported.
