Molecular cloning and sequencing of a chitin synthase gene (CHS2) of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis.

The nucleotide sequence of a chitin synthase gene (CHS2) of the dimorphic fungal human pathogen Paracoccidioides brasiliensis has been determined. The deduced amino acid sequence of Chs2p consists of 1043 residues and is highly homologous to other class II fungal chitin synthases. Computational structural analyses suggest very high similarity to other fungal chitin synthases with a highly variable region at the cytosolic amino-terminal region which may be related to its possible zymogenic nature, and the putative catalytic region close to seven membrane-spanning regions at the carboxyl terminus.