MOLECULAR ANALYSIS OF THE MALIC ENZYME GENE (MAE2) OF SCHIZOSACCHAROMYCES-POMBE

Sequence analysis of a 46-kb HindIII fragment containing the malic enz yme gene (mae2) of Schizosaccharomyces pombe, revealed the presence of an open reading frame of 1695 nucleotides, coding for a 565 amino aci d polypeptide. The mae2 gene is expressed constitutively and encodes a single mRNA transcript of 2.0 kb. The mae2 gene was mapped on chromos ome III by chromoblotting. The coding region and inferred amino acid s equence showed significant homology with 12 malic enzyme genes and pro teins from widely different origins. Eight highly homologous regions w ere found in these malic enzymes, suggesting that they contain functio nally conserved amino acid sequences that are indispensable for activi ty of malic enzymes. Two of these regions have previously been reporte d to be NAD- and NADP-binding sites.