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Biotechnology and Applied Biochemistry (2001) 34, (47–54) (Printed in Great Britain)

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Two telomerase reverse transcriptases (TERTs) expressed in Candida albicans

Anneke M. Metz, Ruschelle A. Love, Gary A. Strobel¹ and David M. Long

Department of Plant Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, U.S.A.

Key words: alleles, pathogenic yeast, phylogeny, telomere, TERT genes.

Abbreviations used: RT, reverse transcriptase; TERT, telomerase RT; ORF, open reading frame.

¹To whom correspondence should be addressed (e-mail uplgs@montana.edu).

The human pathogenic yeast Candida albicans contains two telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) genes. CaTERT1 and CaTERT2 appear either to be two alleles of the same gene or two entirely different genes that encode 867-residue proteins that differ by five amino acids. Both TERTs have a calculated pI of 9.5 and a M_r of 100.9 kDa and are the smallest TERTs identified to date. Both genes appear to be expressed. Based on sequence similarity between CaTERT1 and the Saccharomyces cerevisiae orthologue Est2p, we suggest a revised alignment for motif E of Est2p. The identification of these TERT genes provides the first opportunity to study telomerase in an important human pathogen.

Received 28 March 2001; accepted 27 April 2001

Portland Press Ltd © 2001