Correlation of exons with functional domains and folding regions in a cellulase from Agaricus bisporus

The cellulase gene cel3 has been isolated from Agaricus bisporus and sequenced. The 5'-end of the cel3 transcript was determined by primer extension and S1 nuclease protection. Putative regulatory elements have been identified in the cel3 promoter and 3'-untranslated regions. The cel3 coding region is interrupted by six short introns, two of which separate the coding regions for the three modules in the CEL3 protein: cellulose-binding domain, linker region, and catalytic domain. Three of the remaining four introns are positioned in regions coding for loops between structural moieties. Intron positions are conserved between cel3 and other related cellulases.