Cloning and expression of the dihydrofolate reductase-thymidylate synthase gene from Trypanosoma cruzi

We have cloned, sequenced and expressed the Trypanosoma cruzi gene encoding the bifunctional protein dihydrofolate reductase-thymidylate synthase (DHFR-TS). The strategy followed for the isolation of positive clones from a genomic library was based on the construction of a probe by the amplification...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Reche Gallardo, Pedro Antonio, Arrebola, R, Olmo, A, Santi, D V, González-Pacanowska, D., Ruiz Pérez, Luis Miguel
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:1994
País:España
Institución:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositorio:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/58262
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/58262
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:612.017
577.2
Trypanosoma cruzi
Dihydrofolate reductase-thymidylate synthase
Protozoal enzyme
Heterologous expression
Folate metabolims
Bioquímica (Biología)
Biotecnología
Microbiología (Biología)
Biología molecular (Biología)
2302 Bioquímica
3399 Otras Especialidades Tecnológicas
2414 Microbiología
2415 Biología Molecular
Descripción
Sumario:We have cloned, sequenced and expressed the Trypanosoma cruzi gene encoding the bifunctional protein dihydrofolate reductase-thymidylate synthase (DHFR-TS). The strategy followed for the isolation of positive clones from a genomic library was based on the construction of a probe by the amplification of highly conserved sequences of the TS domain by the polymerase chain reaction. Translation of the open reading frame of 1563 bp yields a polypeptide of 521 amino acids with a molecular mass of 58829 Da. For heterologous expression of T. cruzi DHFR-TS in Escherichia coli, the entire coding sequence was amplified by polymerase chain reaction and cloned into the plasmid vector pKK223.3. The presence of catalytically active DHFR-TS was demonstrated by complementation of the Thy- E. coli strain chi 2913 and the DHFR- Thy- E. coli strain PA414. The gene is expressed as an active protein which constitutes approximately 2% of the total cell soluble protein. Recombinant bifunctional enzyme and the DHFR domain have been purified by methotrexate-Sepharose chromatography to yield 1-2 mg of active DHFR-TS per litre of culture. Southern and electrophoretic analyses using the coding sequence as probe indicated that the T. cruzi enzyme is encoded by a single copy gene which maps to two bands of approximately 990 kb and 1047 kb. It appears that T. cruzi is diploid for the DHFR-TS gene which is located on two different-sized homologous chromosomes.