COMPLETE NUCLEOTIDE-SEQUENCE OF THE RHODOSPORIDIUM-TORULOIDES GENE CODING FOR PHENYLALANINE AMMONIA-LYASE

The complete nucleotide sequence of the Rhodosporidium toruloides gene coding for the enzyme phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) has been determined. The primary structure of PAL was deduced from the nucleotide sequence of the two cDNA clones, pPAL1 and pPAL2, which covered the entire amino acid-coding sequence. Comparison of cDNA and genomic sequences of pal revealed the presence of six introns. The nucleotide sequences of these introns were compared to those from other fungi. The primary amino acid sequence of the enzyme exhibits only 30.8% identity with the determined primary sequence of PAL from Phaseolus vulgaris. Upstream from the structural gene there is a stretch of C + T-rich DNA similar to that found upstream from a number of Neurospora and Saccharomyces cerevisiae genes. In the case of S. cerevisiae, these C +T-rich sequences are thought to be involved in the transcription of highly expressed genes.