Two telomerase reverse transcriptases (TERTs) expressed in Candida albicans

The human pathogenic yeast Candida albicans contains two telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) genes. CaTERT1 and CaTERT2 appear either to be two al leles of the same gene or two entirely different genes that encode 867-resi due proteins that differ by five amino acids. Both TERTs have a calculated pi of 9.5 and a M-r of 100.9 kDa and are the smallest TERTs identified to d ate. Both genes appear to be expressed. Based on sequence similarity betwee n CaTERT1 and the Saccharomyces cerevisiae orthologue Est2p, we suggest a r evised alignment for motif E of Est2p. The identification of these TERT gen es provides the first opportunity to study telomerase in an important human pathogen.