Isolation and characterization of Candida albicans homologue of RAP1, a repressor and activator protein gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Abstract

To study the function of RAP1, a Candida albicans gene (CaRAP1) that shows sequence similarity to RAP1 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was isolated by colony hybridization. DNA sequencing predicted an open reading frame of 429 amino acids with an overall identity of 24% to the ScRap1p. The DNA binding domain (DBD) was highly conserved, and EMSA using a GST-CaRap1p fusion protein confirmed its binding ability to the RPG-box of S. cerevisiae ENO1. In contrast, the N-terminus was less conserved and a moderate homology was observed in the BRCT domain. Interestingly, CaRap1p did not contain the C-terminal activation/repression region of ScRap1p.