The Claviceps purpurea glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene: cloning, characterization, and use for the improvement of a dominant selection system.

The GPD 1 gene of Claviceps purpurea coding for glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase was cloned and sequenced, including 1,800 bp of its 5' upstream region. This gene shows an identical structure to the gpd gene of Podospora anserina and Cryphonectria parasitica (one intron at an identical position) with high homology at both the DNA and amino-acid levels. Two fragments of the promoter spanning from the ATG to -500 bp and to -1,400 bp were fused to the phleomycin-resistance gene. Both constructs transformed C. purpurea at a high rate. The enhanced expression of the long vector construct indicates the presence of additional elements between -500 bp and -1,400 bp upstream of the initiation codon.