scholarly journals Regulatory Regions of smeDEF in Stenotrophomonas maltophilia Strains Expressing Different Amounts of the Multidrug Efflux Pump SmeDEF

2004 ◽  
Vol 48 (6) ◽  
pp. 2274-2276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Sanchez ◽  
Ana Alonso ◽  
Jose L. Martinez

ABSTRACT The smeT-smeDEF region and the smeT gene, which encodes the smeDEF repressor, are highly polymorphic. Few changes in smeT might be associated with smeDEF overexpression. The results obtained with cellular extracts suggest that mutant SmeT proteins cannot bind to the operator and that other transcription factors besides SmeT are involved in the regulation of smeDEF expression.

2002 ◽  
Vol 46 (11) ◽  
pp. 3386-3393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Sánchez ◽  
Ana Alonso ◽  
Jose L. Martinez

ABSTRACT We report on the cloning of the gene smeT, which encodes the transcriptional regulator of the Stenotrophomonas maltophilia efflux pump SmeDEF. SmeT belongs to the TetR and AcrR family of transcriptional regulators. The smeT gene is located upstream from the structural operon of the pump genes smeDEF and is divergently transcribed from those genes. Experiments with S. maltophilia and the heterologous host Escherichia coli have demonstrated that SmeT is a transcriptional repressor. S1 nuclease mapping has demonstrated that expression of smeT is driven by a single promoter lying close to the 5′ end of the gene and that expression of smeDEF is driven by an unique promoter that overlaps with promoter PsmeT. The level of expression of smeT is higher in smeDEF-overproducing S. maltophilia strain D457R, which suggests that SmeT represses its own expression. Band-shifting assays have shown that wild-type strain S. maltophilia D457 contains a cellular factor(s) capable of binding to the intergenic smeT-smeD region. That cellular factor(s) was absent from smeDEF-overproducing S. maltophilia strain D457R. The sequence of smeT from D457R showed a point mutation that led to a Leu166Gln change within the SmeT protein. This change allowed overexpression of both smeDEF and smeT in D457R. It was noteworthy that expression of wild-type SmeT did not fully complement the smeT mutation in D457R. This suggests that the wild-type protein is not dominant over the mutant SmeT.


2011 ◽  
Vol 55 (5) ◽  
pp. 2061-2066 ◽  
Author(s):  
Selene Mogavero ◽  
Arianna Tavanti ◽  
Sonia Senesi ◽  
P. David Rogers ◽  
Joachim Morschhäuser

ABSTRACTOverexpression of the multidrug efflux pump Mdr1 causes increased fluconazole resistance in the pathogenic yeastCandida albicans. The transcription factors Mrr1 and Cap1 mediateMDR1upregulation in response to inducing stimuli, and gain-of-function mutations in Mrr1 or Cap1, which render the transcription factors hyperactive, result in constitutiveMDR1overexpression. The essential MADS box transcription factor Mcm1 also binds to theMDR1promoter, but its role in inducible or constitutiveMDR1upregulation is unknown. Using a conditional mutant in which Mcm1 can be depleted from the cells, we investigated the importance of Mcm1 forMDR1expression. We found that Mcm1 was dispensable forMDR1upregulation by H2O2but was required for fullMDR1induction by benomyl. A C-terminally truncated, hyperactive Cap1 could upregulateMDR1expression both in the presence and in the absence of Mcm1. In contrast, a hyperactive Mrr1 containing a gain-of-function mutation depended on Mcm1 to causeMDR1overexpression. These results demonstrate a differential requirement for the coregulator Mcm1 for Cap1- and Mrr1-mediatedMDR1upregulation. When activated by oxidative stress or a gain-of-function mutation, Cap1 can induceMDR1expression independently of Mcm1, whereas Mrr1 requires either Mcm1 or an active Cap1 to cause overexpression of theMDR1efflux pump. Our findings provide more detailed insight into the molecular mechanisms of drug resistance in this important human fungal pathogen.


2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhongle Liu ◽  
John M. Rossi ◽  
Lawrence C. Myers

ABSTRACT Farnesol, a quorum-sensing molecule, inhibits Candida albicans hyphal formation, affects its biofilm formation and dispersal, and impacts its stress response. Several aspects of farnesol's mechanism of action remain incompletely uncharacterized. Among these are a thorough accounting of the cellular receptors and transporters for farnesol. This work suggests these processes are linked through the Zn cluster transcription factors Tac1 and Znc1 and their induction of the multidrug efflux pump Cdr1. Specifically, we have demonstrated that Tac1 and Znc1 are functionally activated by farnesol through a mechanism that mimics other means of hyperactivation of Zn cluster transcription factors. This is consistent with our observation that many genes acutely induced by farnesol are dependent on TAC1, ZNC1, or both. A related molecule, 1-dodecanol, invokes a similar TAC1-ZNC1 response, while several other proposed C. albicans quorum-sensing molecules do not. Tac1 and Znc1 both bind to and upregulate the CDR1 promoter in response to farnesol. Differences in inducer and DNA binding specificity lead to Tac1 and Znc1 having overlapping, but nonidentical, regulons. Induction of genes by farnesol via Tac1 and Znc1 was inversely related to the level of CDR1 present in the cell, suggesting a model in which induction of CDR1 by Tac1 and Znc1 leads to an increase in farnesol efflux. Consistent with this premise, our results show that CDR1 expression, and its regulation by TAC1 and ZNC1, facilitates growth in the presence of high farnesol concentrations in C. albicans and in certain strains of its close relative, C. dubliniensis.


2012 ◽  
Vol 56 (8) ◽  
pp. 4490-4494 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Sasse ◽  
Rebecca Schillig ◽  
Alexandra Reimund ◽  
Julia Merk ◽  
Joachim Morschhäuser

ABSTRACTOverexpression of the multidrug efflux pumpMDR1confers resistance to the antifungal drug fluconazole onCandida albicans. It has been reported that two types ofMDR1promoters exist inC. albicansand that homozygosity for the allele with higher activity may promote fluconazole resistance. We found that the twoMDR1promoter alleles in strain SC5314 were equally well activated by inducing chemicals or hyperactive forms of the transcription factors Mrr1 and Cap1, which controlMDR1expression. In addition, no loss of heterozygosity at theMDR1locus was observed inMDR1-overexpressing clinicalC. albicansstrains that developed fluconazole resistance during therapy.


2001 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 1879-1881 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Alonso ◽  
Jose L. Martinez

ABSTRACT The presence of the multidrug efflux pump SmeDEF was assessed in a collection of clinical isolates of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia. All isolates encoded this pump, as demonstrated by PCR. Forty-seven percent of the strains overproduced a protein of the same size that was immunoreactive against an anti-SmeF antibody, and 33% overexpressed the gene semD when they were tested by reverse transcription-PCR. A correlation between smeDEFoverexpression and antibiotic resistance was observed.


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