Molecular Characterization of Subunit G of the Vacuolar ATPase in Pathogen Dermatophyte Trichophyton rubrum

Trichophyton rubrum is an anthropophil ic fungu s cau sing up to 90% of chronic cases of dermatophytosis, Several properties of this fungus have been investigated so far. However, a few studies were carried out in the field of molecular biolo gy of this fungus. In the present study , we tried to identify the subunit G of its vacuolar ATPase (V-ATP ase). Pairs of 21 nt primers were designed from highly con serv ed region s of the V-ATPase subunit G genes in other fungi . Mentioned primers were utilized in PCR using isolated genomic DNA template as well as cytopl asmic RNA of Lrubrum and the PCR and RTPCR fragments were then sequenced. About 469 nucleotides were sequenced which encoded a polypeptide with 119 amino ac ids. Nucleotide sequen ce comp arison in gene data banks (NCBI, NIH) for both the DNA and its dedu ced amino acid sequence revealed significant homology with V-ATP ase subunit G genes and proteins of other eukaryotic cells . The amino acid sequence of the encoded protein was about 84% identic al to the sequence of V-ATPase subunit G from oth er fungi. In summary, we have cloned the first V-ATPas e subunit G of dermatophytes and characterized it as a member of this gene family in other eukaryotic cells.