Isolation and characterization of Leishmania infantum cDNA encoding a protein homologous to eukaryotic elongation factor 1γ

This paper reports the isolation and characterization of a complementary deoxyribonucleic acid clone showing sequence homology with genes coding for the eukaryotic elongation factor 1γ (EF-1γ). The clone encodes an open reading frame of 404 amino acids corresponding to a deduced molecular mass of 46·2 kDa. Database searches revealed 30–64% sequence identity between the Leishmania infantum EF-1γ and several eukaryotic homologues. Southern blot analysis indicated that 2 genes tandemly organized were present in the L. infantum genome. The 3′ untranslated regions of these 2 genes differed in size. Southern hybridization and pulsed field gel electrophoresis showed that EF-1γ genes are highly conserved among members of the Leishmania genus and must be clustered in a single chromosomal locus.