Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-1987

Publication Title

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Department

Geisel School of Medicine

Abstract

Genomic DNA clones that coded for the bifunctional dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) and thymidylate synthase (TS) (DHFR-TS) activities from a pyrimethamine-sensitive strain of Plasmodium falciparum were isolated and sequenced. The deduced DHFR-TS protein contained 608 amino acids (71,682 Da). The coding region for DHFR-TS contained no intervening sequences and had a high A + T content (75%). The DHFR domain, in the amino-terminal portion of the protein, was joined by a 94-amino acid junction sequence to the TS domain in the carboxyl-terminal portion of the protein. The TS domain was more conserved than the DHFR domain and both P. falciparum domains were more homologous to eukaryotic than to prokaryotic forms of the enzymes. Predicted secondary structures of the DHFR and TS domains were nearly identical to the structures identified in other DHFR and TS enzymes.

Original Citation

Bzik DJ, Li WB, Horii T, Inselburg J. Molecular cloning and sequence analysis of the Plasmodium falciparum dihydrofolate reductase-thymidylate synthase gene. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1987;84(23):8360-8364. doi:10.1073/pnas.84.23.8360

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