EXPRESSION AND SEQUENCE COMPARISON OF THE ASPERGILLUS-NIGER AND ASPERGILLUS-TUBIGENSIS GENES ENCODING POLYGALACTURONASE-II

The structure and expression of the polygalacturonase-encoding pgaII genes of two recently recognized species, Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus tubigensis, was investigated. While the structure of the pgaII genes is very similar, showing 83% DNA sequence identity and 94% identity at the amino acid level, they have diverged significantly. The NH2-terminal sequence suggests that these PGs are made as pre pro-proteins and the secretory pro-peptide of the PGII precursors shows sequence homology with some other fungal pro-peptides. The expression of the pgaII genes is strongly regulated by the carbon source and the A. tubigensis gene is expressed and regulated in A. niger transformants. The low similarity of the fungal PGs with those of bacterial and plant origin is discussed in relation to the possible functional role of specific amino acids.