title: The design of oligonucleotide primers for the universal amplification of the N-acetylglucosaminidase gene (nag1) in Chytridiomycetes with emphasis on the anaerobic Neocallimastigales.
abstract: The common feature of all chytridiomycetous fungi, aerobic as well as anaerobic, is an abundance of chitin in their cell wall. The genes coding for chitinases have therefore been widely used as phylogenetic markers in ascomycetes. As their utility for Chytridiomycetes has not been determined we chose the gene encoding an enzyme involved in chitin degradation and energy metabolism, the beta-(1,4)-N-acetylglucosaminidase (nag1). Primer pair Nag-forward and Nag-reverse was used to create PCR product from 5 strains of anaerobic and 7 strains of aerobic chytrids. However, Blast search of sequenced amplicons showed that these primers are specific only for fungus Emericella nidulans. Amino acid alignment of Nag1 proteins of fungal, protozoal and bacterial origin available in GenBank database was therefore performed. Five amino acid regions were found to be conserved enough to serve as a suitable domain for the design of a set of primers for the universal amplification of the nag1 gene in the Neocallimastigales fungi.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics, v.v.i., Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague, Czechia. fliegerova@iapg.cas.cz
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fliegerová
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mrázek
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Voigt
mesh_terms: D000118:Acetylglucosaminidase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D000332:Aerobiosis; D000693:Anaerobiosis; D008411:Chytridiomycota / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics*; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000032:analysis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D005658:Fungi / Q000145:classification / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D021141:Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004271:DNA, Fungal; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D000118:Acetylglucosaminidase