ISOLATION OF THE FACA (ACETYL-COA SYNTHETASE) GENE OF PHYCOMYCES-BLAKESLEEANUS

A 5.6 kb DNA fragment from the fungus Phycomyces blakesleeanus has bee n cloned and sequenced. The fragment contains a gene that probably cod es for the enzyme acetyl-coenzyme A synthetase (fac A). The amino acid sequence deduced for the P. blakesleeanus protein is highly homologou s to those of acetyl-coA-synthetases from other organisms. When placed under the control of a constitutive promoter from Aspergillus nidulan s, the cloned gene complemented a fac A(-) mutation of this organism. In P. blakesleeanus, the expression of fac A is induced by acetate.