THE GENES ENCODING THE SECRETED ASPARTYL PROTEINASES OF CANDIDA-ALBICANS CONSTITUTE A FAMILY WITH AT LEAST 3 MEMBERS

The secreted aspartyl proteinase activity from Candida albicans is tho ught to be a potential virulence factor. Four laboratories have cloned a gene from C. albicans encoding this enzyme. When two of these genes sharing 77% homology at the DNA level are hybridized under conditions of high stringency to contour-clamped homogeneous electric field chro mosome separations of four different strains, they label different chr omosomes: chromosome 6 for SAP1 and chromosome R for SAP2. The existen ce of different genes for the two sequences was confirmed by polymeras e chain reaction. Genomic Southern blots probed with the genes and was hed at low stringency revealed several cross-hybridizing bands. Contou r-clamped homogeneous electric field chromosome separations probed at low stringency indicated that there was a cross-hybridizing sequence o n chromosome 3 in addition to those on chromosomes R and 6. The genes for the secreted aspartyl proteinase activity in C. albicans thus cons titute a gene family which we have called the SAP family.