Molecular cloning of gaf2, A schizosaccharomyces pombe GATA factor, which has two zinc‐finger sequences

By low stringency screening of a λ‐Shizosaccharomyces pombe genomic library, we have cloned a GATA factor homologous gene, gaf2+, within a 3.1‐kb EcoRI fragment. The gaf2 ORF predicts a protein of Mr 61 kDa consisting of intronless 564 amino acids corresponding to 1,692 bp. Gaf2 has two zinc‐fingers as Urbs1 of Ustilago maydis, whereas most of fungal GATA factors have only one zinc‐finger. The separation between two zinc‐fingers of Gaf2 is rather long. In addition to gaf2, the sequence analysis revealed a Val‐tRNA gene in the 3′‐flanking region of gaf2. Northern blot analysis indicated that the gaf2 gene is transcribed constitutively irrespective of the nitrogen source in a medium.