Comparison of partial sequence of the cap binding protein (eIF4E) isolated from Agaricus bisporus and its pathogen Verticillium fungicola

The 3' regions of the gene encoding the cap binding protein eIF4E were successfully isolated from Agaricus bisporus and Verticillium fungicola using a degenerate primer within the eIF4E gene and an anchored oligo d(T) primer. The deduced amino acid sequences contained 173 residues for A. bisporus and 171 residues V. fungicola. Analysis of these sequences shows that despite conserved regions of homology, centering around tryptophan residues, A. bisporus and V. fungicola are very diverse at the amino acid and DNA level. Percentage homology between the two fungi is low at the nucleotide, 35%, and amino acid level, 29%. The highest degree of similarity between the A. bisporus sequence and other published sequences is with the Homo sapiens eIF4E sequence (32%). V. fungicola exhibited highest homology with the eIF4E sequence from Caenorhabditis elegans (34%). Southern analysis of genomic DNA indicated a single copy of the gene within the A. bisporus genome.