Isolation and characterization of a gene from Trypanosoma cruzi encoding a 46-kilodalton protein with homology to human and rat tyrosine aminotransferase.

The complete sequence of a gene encoding a 46-kDa protein of Trypanosoma cruzi is presented. The first ATG complies with the consensus sequence for initiation of translation. A single band of 2 kb was highlighted by hybridizing a probe from the 46-kDa protein gene to a Northern filter containing total T. cruzi RNA. The gene is present in 50-80 copies per cell and most of them are contained in 2 tandem arrays on large T. cruzi chromosomes (> 2000 kb). A strong homology with rat and human tyrosine aminotransferase was detected. Homology with a Trypanosoma brucei retrotransposon was found in the nonsense strand of the intergenic region.