Isolation and characterization of the positively acting regulatory gene QUTA from Aspergillus nidulans

The positively acting regulator gene QUTA from Aspergillus nidulans has been identified and located within a cluster of quinic acid utilisation (QUT) genes isolated within a recombinant phage lambda (lambda Q1). The DNA sequence of the QUTA gene reveals a single uninterrupted reading frame coding for a protein of mw 90.416 Kd. The QUTA protein sequence has a protein motif in the form of a putative "DNA finger" that shows strong homology to other such motifs in the GAL4, PPR1, ARGRII, LAC9 and QA1F regulatory gene products of S. cerevisiae, K. lactis and N. crassa. The data presented confirm the view deduced by genetical analysis that the QUTA gene of A. nidulans encodes a protein capable of interacting with QUT specific DNA sequences.