Structural organization of polygalacturonase-encoding genes from Penicillium griseoroseum

Abstract

The pectinolytic system of Penicillium griseoroseum has been studied as a model to investigate aspects of gene organization in filamentous fungi. Here we show that the endopolygalacturonase-coding genes previously isolated exist as single copies in the fungus genome. DNA blot analysis revealed the presence of corresponding genes in other Penicillium species, although only one or two genes were found in opposition to the endoPG gene family reported for other filamentous fungi. The nucleotide and amino acid sequences of Penicillium PG genes of retrieved from data banks were compared for intron length and number, codon usage, and consensus sequences for translation initiation sites. The introns are conserved in the same position, although there was no conservation of their nucleotide sequences. Other sequence features resemble those seen in Aspergillus and Neurospora genes.

Keywords

• Penicillium griseoroseum
• filamentous fungi
• pectinase
• polygalacturonase
• gene organization