Identification, characterization and sequence of Candida albicans repetitive DNAs Rel-1 and Rel-2

Two moderately repetitive DNA elements, Rel-1 and Rel-2, were identified in a screen for clones that hybridized to a Candida albicans minichromosome. Rel-1, a 223-bp sequence, is C. albicans-specific. The 2789-bp Rel-2 sequence hybridizes weakly to C. stellatoidia DNA but not to DNA from several other yeast species. Genomic Southern-blot analysis indicated that Rel-1 and Rel-2 are often closely associated in the genome, suggesting that they may be subsequences of a larger repetitive element. Small subrepeats are located in the nucleotide sequence of both clones. Hybridization demonstrated that Rel-2 contains both repetitive and unique DNA sequences. The repetitive DNA is present on most, and perhaps all, C. albicans chromosomes. The unique sequence maps to chromosome 7; however, in some strains, it is also present on additional chromosomes.