Sequence analysis of the Candida albicans ADE2 gene and physical separation of the two functionally distinct domains of the phosphoribosylaminoimidazole carboxylase.

An ADE2 genomic clone from the pathogenic fungus, Candida albicans, was isolated by complementation of an Escherichia coli purK mutant and the gene was analysed by DNA sequencing. A 1707 bp open reading frame was identified encoding a polypeptide of 569 amino acids with significant homology to all the known yeast ADE2 genes. Sequence homology to both the E. coli purE and purK genes suggests that the C. albicans ADE2 gene is the result of an evolutionary fusion. The amino-acid sequence comparison showed that the N-terminal domain of the Ade2 protein has a 52.5% identity to purK, whereas the C-terminal domain has a distinct 64.3% identity to purE. In order to establish the functional relationship of these two regions, deletion mutants of the Ade2 protein were prepared by recombinant expression of the functional domains, which were tested by complementation of their respective E. coli auxotrophs.