Genomic differences between Candida glabrata and Saccharomyces cerevisiae around the MRPL28 and GCN3 loci

We report the sequences of two genomic regions from the pathogenic yeast Candida glabrata and their comparison to Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A 3 kb region from C. glabrata was sequenced that contains homologues of the S. cerevisiae genes TFB3, MRPL28 and STP1. The equivalent region in S. cerevisiae includes a fourth gene, MFA1, coding for mating factor a. The absence of MFA1 is consistent with C. glabrata's asexual life cycle, although we cannot exclude the possibility that a-factor gene(s) are located somewhere else in its genome. We also report the sequence of a 16 kb region from C. glabrata that contains a five-gene cluster similar to S. cerevisiae chromosome XI (including GCN3) followed by a four-gene cluster similar to chromosome XV (including HIS3). A small-scale rearrangement of gene order has occurred in the chromosome XI-like section.