Identification of a DNA fragment encoding a putative membrane transporter protein expressed in Sporothrix schenckii

We have isolated two DNA fragments from Sporothrix schenckii. These fragments were nonspecifically amplified from the whole-cell DNA using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers originally designed in the gene encoding heat shock protein 70 of Mycobacterium leprae. Reverse transcription PCR demonstrated that the smaller (sp-2) fragment was expressed, and a database search indicated that the deduced amino acids sequence from the sp-2 fragment contained a region homologous to the conserved sequence of the membrane transporter protein family. This is the first report of partial cloning of the gene encoding the putative membrane transporter in S. schenckii.