Characterization of a candidate gene for GP72, an insect stage-specific antigen of Trypanosoma cruzi

The Trypanosoma cruzi insect stage-specific antigen GP72 was purified from epimastigotes and the amino acid sequences of peptide fragments determined. Oligonucleotides derived from these data were used to amplify and clone a cDNA sequence, which was used to isolate a full-length gene. All the sequenced peptides were encoded within the gene. The characteristics of the encoded 62,600-Da protein, including a potential amino-terminal signal sequence, a hydrophobic carboxy-terminus, and a large number of potential O-glycosylation sites, are consistent with the properties of GP72. No sequence homologies were found in searches of DNA and protein data banks. GP72 is encoded by a single pair of non-telomeric allelic genes.