Cloning and sequence analysis of a Drosophila melanogaster cDNA encoding IMP dehydrogenase.

A cDNA encoding the entire Drosophila melanogaster IMP dehydrogenase (IMPDH) protein was isolated and sequenced. Translation of the impdh cDNA nucleotide sequence indicated that the Drosophila IMPDH exhibited 48% and 65% amino acid identity to the Leishmania donovani and human isoform II counterparts, respectively. Northern analysis revealed that expression of the 2.4 kb impdh transcript was equivalent in adult Drosophila head and body and that impdh expression was developmentally regulated. In situ hybridization of the cloned impdh cDNA probe to Drosophila salivary gland chromosomes indicated that the impdh gene is located at position 9E1-4 on the X chromosome.