Isolation of the gene for cytochrome P450L1A1 (lanosterol 14 alpha-demethylase) from Candida albicans.

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae cytochrome P450 L1A1 (lanosterol 14 alpha-demethylase)-coding gene was used as a hybridization probe to isolate two HindIII fragments of 2.5 kb and 6.85 kb from a phage lambda library of Candida albicans nucleotide sequences. Restriction endonuclease mapping and Southern blot hybridization experiments indicated that these fragments represent two allelic forms of the same gene. This cloned sequence, when introduced into S. cerevisiae or C. albicans on a multiple copy vector, produced an increase in cytochrome P450 content and resistance to imidazole antifungal agents which are inhibitors of cytochrome P450 L1A1. In addition, the cloned sequence was able to complement a cytochrome P450 L1A1 gene disruption when introduced into S. cerevisiae. These data indicate that the cloned sequence codes for the lanosterol 14 alpha-demethylase cytochrome P450 L1A1 from C. albicans.