The nucleotide (nt) sequence of the dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR)-enc
oding gene (DFR1) of Candida albicans was determined. The gene contain
s an open reading frame of 576 nt, coding for a protein of 192 amino a
cid (aa) residues (calculated M(r) 22 222), that is 38.5 and 31% simil
ar to the Saccharomyces cerevisiae and human enzymes, respectively. Th
e first 36 residues, at the N terminus, of the deduced aa sequence are
identical to those determined by sequencing of the purified enzyme fr
om C. albicans. Putative transcription start points were also determin
ed. Restriction-fragment-length polymorphism analysis of the DFR1 chro
mosomal region suggests the presence of a single copy of the gene per
haploid genome and shows a limited variability among the different C.
albicans strains tested.