Cloning and characterization of two genes encoding dihydroxyacetone kinase from Schizosaccharomyces pombe IFO 0354

We report the cloning and characterization of two genes encoding dihydroxyacetone kinase (EC 2.7.1.29), SpDAK1 and SpDAK2, from Schizosaccharomyces pombe IFO 0354. The open reading frames of both genes encode 591 amino acids and have Mrs of 62158 and 62170, respectively. Both predicted amino acid sequences exhibited a high identity to each other (99.8%) and relatively high identities (30% to 76%) to other putative dihydroxyacetone kinase gene products. A Western blot analysis showed that these enzymes are induced by glycerol and repressed by glucose. A genomic Southern blot analysis indicated the presence of SpDAK1 and the absence of SpDAK2 in a standard laboratory strain, S. pombe 972h-.