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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, November 2000, p. 3960-3966, Vol. 38, No. 11
0095-1137/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Polymorphism in the Gene Coding for the Immunodominant Antigen gp43 from the Pathogenic Fungus Paracoccidioides brasiliensis

Flavia V. Morais,1 Tânia F. Barros,1 Márcio K. Fukada,1 Patrícia S. Cisalpino,2 and Rosana Puccia1,*

Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia da Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP,1 and Departamento de Microbiologia do Instituto de Ciências Biológicas da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG,2 Brazil

Received 31 May 2000/Returned for modification 29 July 2000/Accepted 20 August 2000

The gp43 glycoprotein is an immune-dominant antigen in patients with paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM). It is protective against murine PCM and is a putative virulence factor. The gp43 gene of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis B-339 is located in a 1,329-bp DNA fragment that includes two exons, a 78-bp intron, and a leader peptide-coding region of 105 bp. Polymorphism in gp43 has been suggested by the occurrence, in the same isolate or among different fungal samples, of isoforms with distinct isoelectric points. In the present study we aligned and compared with a consensus sequence the gp43 precursor genes of 17 P. brasiliensis isolates after sequencing two PCR products from each fungal sample. The genotypic types detected showed 1 to 4 or 14 to 15 informative substitution sites, preferentially localized between 578 and 1166 bp. Some nucleotide differences within individual isolates (noninformative sites) resulted in a second isoelectric point for the deduced protein. The most polymorphic sequences were also phylogenetically distant from the others and encoded basic gp43 isoforms. The three isolates in this group were from patients with chronic PCM, and their DNA restriction patterns were distinct in Southern blots. The nucleotides encoding the inner core of the murine T-cell-protective epitope of gp43 were conserved, offering hope for the development of a universal vaccine.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Disciplina de Biologia Celular, UNIFESP, Rua Botucatu, 862, oitavo andar, São Paulo, SP, 04023-062, Brazil. Phone: 55-11-5084-2991. Fax: 55-11-5571-5877. E-mail: rosana{at}ecb.epm.br.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, November 2000, p. 3960-3966, Vol. 38, No. 11
0095-1137/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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