Predicted amino acid sequence and genomic organization of Trypanosoma cruzi hsp 60 genes

We describe the isolation of a Trypanosoma cruzi protein-coding gene that exhibited about 50% identity with members of the family of heat shock protein (hsp) 60 genes. Since this homology extended for most of the predicted 562 amino acid open reading frame and was comparable to the level of sequence identity between the individual hsp 60 genes from diverged species, we conclude that we have isolated and characterized a T. cruzi hsp 60 gene. The T. cruzi hsp 60 genes are arranged in tandem arrays, and the presence of restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) among the different hsp 60 genes suggests the presence of several separate gene arrays encoding hsp 60 members.