Cloning of canine cDNA encoding tektin

Tektins are a group of proteins that form filamentous polymers in the walls of ciliary microtubules. The cloning of canine cDNA encoding tektin, was carried out and identified from the testis of beagle dog. Canine tektin cDNA is 1,523 bp in length, has an open reading frame of 1,281 bp nucleotides encoding a protein of 426 deduced amino acids. The predicted amino acid sequence has 77% and 33-50% of homology with the murine tektin and the sea urchin tektins. The amino acid sequence RPNVELCRD and four cysteine residues were conserved in the dog, mouse and sea urchin, suggesting the functional significance of this protein domain and the amino acid residues in the tektin proteins.