A recQ family DNA helicase gene from Aspergillus nidulans

We have identified an Aspergillus nidulans gene encoding a RecQ family heli case which we have therefore named recQ. The A. nidulans recQ protein is mo st closely related in sequence to human recQ helicase 5. Like the latter po lypeptide, A. nidulans recQ consists of little more than the conserved heli case domain, lacking the long amino- and carboxy-terminal extensions seen i n other recQ family members such as BLM and WRN and in the sole RecQ family helicase of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Sgs1p). By analogy with ot her eukaryotic RecQ helicases, A. nidulans recQ helicase is likely to play an important role in the maintenance of genomic integrity.