The centromere-binding factor Cbf1p from Candida albicans complements the methionine auxotrophic phenotype of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

A gene encoding the centromere binding factor 1 (Cbf1p) of the human pathog enic yeast Candida albicans was cloned and characterized. An open reading-f rame was detected which encoded a 223 amino acid protein with a calculated molecular weight of 25.8 kDa and a relative isoelectric point of 5.55. It s hares 39% overall amino acid sequence identity with Saccharomyces cerevisia e Cbf1p. We localized the CaCBF1 gene on chromosome 4. Southern analysis in dicated that CaCBF1 is probably present as a single copy gene per haploid g enome. The CaCBF1 gene under the control of its own promoter was able to co mplement the methionine auxotrophic growth, the increased mitotic instabili ty of CEN plasmids and the slow growth of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae cbf1 D elta mutant strain. The GenBank Accession No. for this gene is AJ303083. Co pyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.