LEISHMANIA-CHAGASI - A GENE ENCODING A PROTEIN-KINASE WITH A CATALYTIC DOMAIN STRUCTURALLY RELATED TO MAP KINASE KINASE

The gene for a serine/threonine protein kinase was isolated from Leish mania chagasi. The deduced amino acid sequence encoded by this Leishma nia protein kinase (LPK-1) gene possesses all of the 11 conserved subd omains found in most other serine/threonine protein kinase catalytic d omains. Sequence alignment with other known protein kinases demonstrat es that the 42-kDa LPK-1 is a member of the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase family involved in the signal transduction pathways in y east and mammalian cells. The single copy gene for LPK-1 specifies a 3 .1-kb mRNA that is expressed in both logarithmic and stationary phase promastigotes with a twofold higher steady-state level in the infectiv e stationary phase promastigotes. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.