Expression of a human gene for interferon in yeast

A DNA sequence coding for mature human leukocyte interferon D (LeIF-D) was linked with DNA fragments of the 5′-flanking sequences of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) alcohol dehydrogenase I gene in a plasmid capable of autonomous replication and selection in both yeast and Escherichia coli. Yeast cells transformed by these plasmids synthesize up to 1 × 1O6 molecules of biologically active LeIF-D per cell.