Characterization of a chaperone ClpB homologue ofParacoccidioides brasiliensis

AbstractWe report the cloning and sequence analysis of a genomic clone encoding aParacoccidioides brasiliensisClpB chaperone homologue (PbClpB). Theclpbgene was identified in a λ Dash II library. Sequencing ofPbclpbrevealed a long open reading frame capable of encoding a 792 amino acid, 87.9 kDa protein, pI of 5.34. The predicted polypeptide contains several consensus motifs of the ClpB proteins. Canonical sequences such as two putative nucleotide‐binding sites, chaperonins ClpA/B signatures and highly conserved casein kinase phosphorylation domains are present. ClpB is 69% to 49% identical to members of the ClpB family from several organisms from prokaryotes to eukaryotes. The transcript ofPbclpB was detected as a mRNA species of 3.0 kb, preferentially expressed in the yeast parasitic phase of the fungus. A 89 kDa protein was also detected in yeast cells ofP. brasiliensis. The sequence of theclpbgene and the deduced ClpB protein have been submitted to GenBank under Accession No. AF449501. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.