MOLECULAR-CLONING OF THE ISOCITRATE DEHYDROGENASE GENE OF AN EXTREME THERMOPHILE, THERMUS-THERMOPHILUS HB8

The gene coding for isocitrate dehydrogenase of an extreme thermophile, Thermus thermophilus HB8, was cloned and sequenced. This gene consists of a single open reading frame of 1,485 bp preceded by a Shine-Dalgarno ribosome binding site. Promoter- and terminatorlike sequences were detected upstream and downstream of the open reading frame, respectively. The G + C content of the coding region was 65.6%, and that of the third nucleotide of the codons was 90.3%. On the basis of the deduced amino acid sequence, the M(r) of the monomeric enzyme was calculated as 54,189, an M(r) which is similar to that of the purified protein determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. A comparison of the amino acid sequence of the T. thermophilus enzyme with that of the Escherichia coli enzyme showed (i) a 37% overall similarity; (ii) the conservation of the Ser residue, which is known to be phosphorylated in the E. coli enzyme, and of the surrounding sequence; and (iii) the presence of 141 extra residues at the C terminus of the T. thermophilus enzyme. T. thermophilus isocitrate dehydrogenase showed a high sequence homology (33% of the amino acid sequence is identical) to isopropylmalate dehydrogenase from the same organism and was suggested to have evolved from a common ancestral enzyme.