Characterization and cloning of glycogen phosphorylase 1 from Dictyostelium discoideum

We have cloned cDNA and genomic DNA fragments from Dictyostelium discoideum that represent the entire coding region of glycogen phosphorylase 1 (gp1, alpha-D-glucosyltransferase, EC 2.4.1.1). Nucleic acid sequencing of the gp1 clones revealed a single 139 bp intron separating the two exons that encode the 853 amino acids of gp1. The gp1 sequences are similar to other genes and proteins described for Dictyostelium in terms of G + C composition of coding and noncoding regions, splice junctions, intron length, codon preference and termination signals. Genomic Southern blot hybridizations suggest that gp1 exists as a single or low copy number gene in Dictyostelium. Northern analyses demonstrate that gp1 is a developmentally regulated transcript. In alignments of the gp1 peptide sequence to glycogen phosphorylase sequences from other organisms, a high degree of amino acid conservation at many active and regulatory sites was found; however, critical residues in the AMP and purine binding sites were not conserved.