The carboxypeptidase Y-encoding gene from Candida albicans and its transcription during yeast-to-hyphae conversion.

We have cloned and sequenced the gene (CPY1) encoding the carboxypeptidase Y (CPY) of Candida albicans. The gene contains an open reading frame comprising 542 amino acids (aa) with an M(r) of 61,104. The aa sequence shows 74% identity to the mature CPY aa sequence from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The putative pre (signal) and pro sequences at the N terminus of the C. albicans protein, however, show significant divergence from the corresponding prepro sequence of the S. cerevisiae protein. Southern analysis of C. albicans genomic DNA suggested the presence of only one CPY-encoding gene. Northern analysis during yeast-to-hyphae conversion suggested that the CPY1 gene is transiently down-regulated on a transcriptional level during the early events of this developmental switch.