SEQUENCE-ANALYSIS AND REGULATION OF EXPRESSION OF A GENE CODING FOR CARBONIC-ANHYDRASE IN CHLAMYDOMONAS-REINHARDTII

Using immunological and molecular biological techniques, we studied the localization, gene organization, and regulation of expression of the extracellular carbonic anhydrase in the eukaryotic green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Electron microscopy data using immunogold labelling suggest an association of the protein with the inner face of the cell wall. The same polyclonal antibody was previously used to select an immunoreactive 2.5-kb genomic DNA fragment coding for a portion of the carbonic anhydrase monomer. Using the known carbonic anhydrase cDNA sequence and sequence analysis of the genomic DNA fragment, we have deduced the exon-intron organization of the genomic clone. The similarities between Chlamydomonas and higher plant carbonic anhydrase amino acid sequences and the effect of photoheterotrophic growth on the expression of the algal carbonic anhydrase are also examined.