CHARACTERIZATION OF THE PROMOTER REGION OF THE ENOLASE ENCODING GENE ENOL FROM THE ANAEROBIC FUNGUS NEOCALLIMASTIX FRONTALIS - SEQUENCE AND PROMOTER ANALYSIS

The sequence of the Neocallimastix frontalis enolase gene promoter was determined up to 1800 nucleotides 5' to the major transcriptional start point. The base composition of the enolase upstream sequence revealed a very A + T-rich profile (13.5% G + C) leading to many putative hairpin structures. The functional organization of the N. frontalis enolase promoter was investigated by heterologous transient-expression assays. DNA fragments obtained by the sequential removal of sequences upstream of the translation start codon were fused to the Escherichia coli lacZ gene and the resulting plasmids were used to transform the ascomycetes Aspergillus nidulans and Penicillium roqueforti and the oomycete Saprolegnia monoica. Transient expression of the lacZ reporter gene was observed in regenerating protoplasts of S. monoica when using the 0.3 kb or 1 kb upstream of the enolase coding region. In contrast no beta-galactosidase activity was detected in ascomycete protoplasts. DNA hybridization analysis revealed the integration of vector DNA in the genomic DNA of S. monoica and the presence of free copies of the transformation plasmid which could be rescued in E. coli. Our results indicate that the transcriptional machinery of the anaerobic chytrid N. frontalis may differ significantly from that of ascomycetes but that enough conservation exists within the lower fungi to allow a transient-driven expression of a reporter gene in an oomycete fungus.