CLONING AND SEQUENCE DETERMINATION OF THE ASPARTASE-ENCODING GENE FROM BREVIBACTERIUM-FLAVUM MJ233

A 2.5-kb EcoRI fragment containing the aspartase-encoding gene (aspA) of Brevibacterium flavum MJ233 was cloned into plasmid pUC18 using Sou thern hybridization with the Escherichia coli aspA gene as a probe. Th e complete nucleotide (nt) sequence of the cloned DNA indicated that t he deduced gene product of the Br. flavum aspA is composed of 526 amin o acids (aa). Comparison of the aa sequence to the corresponding seque nces from E. coli, Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas fluorescens revea led 63, 47 and 57% homology, respectively. The aspA product was determ ined to have a size of approx. 57 kDa by SDS-PAGE.