The ER chaperone encoding bipA gene of black Aspergilli is induced by heat shock and unfolded proteins.

We describe the cloning and characterisation of the BiP gene homologues of the filamentous fungi Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus awamori. The BiP genes of these black Aspergilli encode an identical protein of 672 amino acids, which has a high homology with the BiP protein from Saccharomyces cerevisiae and contains a putative signal sequence of 38 amino acids. The DNA sequences of the Aspergillus BiP genes diverge in particular in the three intronic sequences and the 5'- and 3'- noncoding regions. Sequences resembling Heat Shock Elements (HSE) and Unfolded Protein Response (UPR) elements, as found in the yeast KAR2 promoter, are present in the 5' non-transcribed regions of both genes. The expression of the A. niger bipA gene is increased by heat shock and tunicamycin treatment.