scholarly journals Divergence of Eukaryotic Secretory Components: the Candida albicans Homolog of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Sec20 Protein Is N Terminally Truncated, and Its Levels Determine Antifungal Drug Resistance and Growth

2001 ◽  
Vol 183 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yvonne Weber ◽  
Uwe J. Santore ◽  
Joachim F. Ernst ◽  
Rolf K. Swoboda
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Candida Albicans ◽  
Transcriptional Control ◽  
Secretory Pathway ◽  
Sodium Dodecyl ◽  
Fungal Species ◽  
Gene Encoding ◽  
Vesicle Traffic ◽  
Antifungal Drug Resistance ◽  
And Function

ABSTRACT Sec20p is a component of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae secretory pathway that does not have a close homolog in higher eukaryotic cells. To verify the function of Sec20p in other fungal species, we characterized the gene encoding a Sec20p homolog in the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans. The deduced protein has 27% identity with, but is missing about 100 N-terminal residues compared to S. cerevisiae Sec20p, which is part of the cytoplasmic tail interacting with the cytoplasmic protein Tip20p. Because a strain lacking both C. albicans SEC20alleles could not be constructed, we placed SEC20 under transcriptional control of two regulatable promoters, MET3pand PCK1p. Repression of SEC20 expression in these strains prevented (MET3p-SEC20 allele) or retarded (PCK1p-SEC20 allele) growth and led to the appearance of extensive intracellular membranes, which frequently formed stacks. Reduced SEC20 expression in the PCK1p-SEC20strain did not affect morphogenesis but led to a series of hypersensitivity phenotypes including supersensitivity to aminoglycoside antibiotics, to nystatin, to sodium dodecyl sulfate, and to cell wall inhibitors. These results demonstrate the occurrence and function of Sec20p in a fungal species other than S. cerevisiae, but the lack of the N-terminal domain and the apparent absence of a close TIP20 homolog in the C. albicans genome also indicate a considerable diversity in mechanisms of retrograde vesicle traffic in eukaryotes.

scholarly journals The Schizosaccharomyces pombe cho1+ Gene Encodes a Phospholipid Methyltransferase

Genetics ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 150 (2) ◽  
pp. 553-562
Author(s):  
Margaret I Kanipes ◽  
John E Hill ◽  
Susan A Henry
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Sequence Analysis ◽  
Schizosaccharomyces Pombe ◽  
Gene Disruption ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Biosynthetic Enzyme ◽  
Gene Encoding ◽  
Complementation Groups ◽  
Eukaryotic Organisms ◽  
And Function

Abstract The isolation of mutants of Schizosaccharomyces pombe defective in the synthesis of phosphatidylcholine via the methylation of phosphatidylethanolamine is reported. These mutants are choline auxotrophs and fall into two unlinked complementation groups, cho1 and cho2. We also report the analysis of the cho1+ gene, the first structural gene encoding a phospholipid biosynthetic enzyme from S. pombe to be cloned and characterized. The cho1+ gene disruption mutant (cho1Δ) is viable if choline is supplied and resembles the cho1 mutants isolated after mutagenesis. Sequence analysis of the cho1+ gene indicates that it encodes a protein closely related to phospholipid methyltransferases from Saccharomyces cerevisiae and rat. Phospholipid methyltransferases encoded by a rat liver cDNA and the S. cerevisiae OPI3 gene are both able to complement the choline auxotrophy of the S. pombe cho1 mutants. These results suggest that both the structure and function of the phospholipid N-methyltransferases are broadly conserved among eukaryotic organisms.

scholarly journals Flavin Mononucleotide-Based Fluorescent Protein as an Oxygen-Independent Reporter in Candida albicans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae

2009 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 913-915 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Tielker ◽  
I. Eichhof ◽  
K.-E. Jaeger ◽  
J. F. Ernst
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Candida Albicans ◽  
Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Flavin Mononucleotide ◽  
Gene Encoding

ABSTRACT Hypoxia is encountered frequently by pathogenic and apathogenic fungi. A codon-adapted gene encoding flavin mononucleotide-based fluorescent protein (CaFbFP) was expressed in Candida albicans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Both species produced CaFbFP and fluoresced even during hypoxia, suggesting that oxygen-independent CaFbFP is a useful, novel tool for monitoring hypoxic gene expression in fungi.

scholarly journals Viability of clathrin heavy-chain-deficient Saccharomyces cerevisiae is compromised by mutations at numerous loci: implications for the suppression hypothesis.

1991 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 3868-3878 ◽  
Author(s):  
A L Munn ◽  
L Silveira ◽  
M Elgort ◽  
G S Payne
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Cell Growth ◽  
Heavy Chain ◽  
Secretory Pathway ◽  
Genetic Locus ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Site Mutation ◽  
Gene Encoding ◽  
Clathrin Heavy Chain ◽  
Lethal Allele

The gene encoding clathrin heavy chain in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (CHC1) is not essential for growth in most laboratory strains tested. However, in certain genetic backgrounds, a deletion of CHC1 (chc1) results in cell death. Lethality in these chc1 strains is determined by a locus designated SCD1 (suppressor of clathrin deficiency) which is unlinked to CHC1 (S. K. Lemmon and E. W. Jones, Science 238:504-509, 1987). The lethal allele of SCD1 has no effect on cell growth when the wild-type version of CHC1 is present. This result led to the proposal that most yeast strains are viable in the absence of clathrin heavy chain because they possess the SCD1 suppressor. Discovery of another yeast strain that cannot grow without clathrin heavy chain has allowed us to perform a genetic test of the suppressor hypothesis. Genetic crosses show that clathrin-deficient lethality in the latter strain is conferred by a single genetic locus (termed CDL1, for clathrin-deficient lethality). By constructing strains in which CHC1 expression is regulated by the GAL10 promoter, we demonstrate that the lethal alleles of SCD1 and CDL1 are recessive. In both cases, very low expression of CHC1 can allow cells to escape from lethality. Genetic complementation and segregation analyses indicate that CDL1 and SCD1 are distinct genes. The lethal CDL1 allele does not cause a defect in the secretory pathway of either wild-type or clathrin heavy-chain-deficient yeast. A systematic screen to identify mutants unable to grow in the absence of clathrin heavy chain uncovered numerous genes similar to SCD1 and CDL1. These findings argue against the idea that viability of chc1 cells is due to genetic suppression, since this hypothesis would require the existence of a large number of unlinked genes, all of which are required for suppression. Instead, lethality appears to be a common, nonspecific occurrence when a second-site mutation arises in a strain whose cell growth is already severely compromised by the lack of clathrin heavy chain.

Structure and transcriptional control of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae POX1 gene encoding acylcoenzyme A oxidase

Gene ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Dmochowska ◽  
D. Dignard ◽  
R. Maleszka ◽  
D.Y. Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Transcriptional Control ◽  
Gene Encoding

scholarly journals Structural Insights into the Azole Resistance of the Candida albicans Darlington Strain Using Saccharomyces cerevisiae Lanosterol 14α-Demethylase as a Surrogate

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 897
Author(s):  
Danyon O. Graham ◽  
Rajni K. Wilson ◽  
Yasmeen N. Ruma ◽  
Mikhail V. Keniya ◽  
Joel D. A. Tyndall ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Candida Albicans ◽  
Crystal Structures ◽  
Differential Susceptibility ◽  
Azole Resistance ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Gene Encoding ◽  
High Level ◽  
Structural Insights ◽  
Level Resistance

Target-based azole resistance in Candida albicans involves overexpression of the ERG11 gene encoding lanosterol 14α-demethylase (LDM), and/or the presence of single or multiple mutations in this enzyme. Overexpression of Candida albicans LDM (CaLDM) Y132H I471T by the Darlington strain strongly increased resistance to the short-tailed azoles fluconazole and voriconazole, and weakly increased resistance to the longer-tailed azoles VT-1161, itraconazole and posaconazole. We have used, as surrogates, structurally aligned mutations in recombinant hexahistidine-tagged full-length Saccharomyces cerevisiae LDM6×His (ScLDM6×His) to elucidate how differential susceptibility to azole drugs is conferred by LDM of the C. albicans Darlington strain. The mutations Y140H and I471T were introduced, either alone or in combination, into ScLDM6×His via overexpression of the recombinant enzyme from the PDR5 locus of an azole hypersensitive strain of S. cerevisiae. Phenotypes and high-resolution X-ray crystal structures were determined for the surrogate enzymes in complex with representative short-tailed (voriconazole) and long-tailed (itraconazole) triazoles. The preferential high-level resistance to short-tailed azoles conferred by the ScLDM Y140H I471T mutant required both mutations, despite the I471T mutation conferring only a slight increase in resistance. Crystal structures did not detect changes in the position/tilt of the heme co-factor of wild-type ScLDM, I471T and Y140H single mutants, or the Y140H I471T double-mutant. The mutant threonine sidechain in the Darlington strain CaLDM perturbs the environment of the neighboring C-helix, affects the electronic environment of the heme, and may, via differences in closure of the neck of the substrate entry channel, increase preferential competition between lanosterol and short-tailed azole drugs.

The Candida albicans PMM1 gene encoding phosphomannomutase complements a Saccharomyces cerevisiae sec 53-6 mutation

1992 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 501-503 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Smith ◽  
Michelle Cooper ◽  
Mariastella DeTiani ◽  
Christophe Losberger ◽  
Mark A. Payton
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Candida Albicans ◽  
Gene Encoding

scholarly journals Transcriptional Control of Brain Tumour Stem Cell Fate by a Carbohydrate Binding Protein

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmad Sharanek ◽  
Audrey Burban ◽  
Aldo Hernandez-Corchado ◽  
Idris Fatakdawala ◽  
Ariel Madrigal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brain Tumour ◽  
Cell Fate ◽  
Transcriptional Control ◽  
Binding Protein ◽  
Carbohydrate Binding ◽  
Gene Encoding ◽  
Carbohydrate Binding Protein ◽  
Preclinical Animal Models ◽  
And Function ◽  
Oncogenic Protein

AbstractBrain tumour stem cells (BTSC) and intratumoural heterogeneity represent major challenges for the effective treatment of glioblastoma. EGFRvIII is a key oncogenic protein in glioblastoma, however, the mechanisms that regulate BTSC fate in EGFRvIII subtype of tumours remain poorly characterized. Here, we report our discovery of the lectin, galactoside-binding, soluble 1 (LGALS1) gene, encoding the carbohydrate binding protein, galectin1, as a key regulator of BTSC fate in glioblastoma tumours harbouring the EGFRvIII mutation. Genetic deletion of LGALS1 alters gene expression profile of BTSCs, leads to cell cycle defects and impairs self-renewal. Using a combination of pharmacological and genetic approaches in preclinical animal models, we establish that inhibition of LGALS1 signalling in BTSCs suppresses tumourigenesis, prolongs lifespan, and improves glioblastoma response to radiation-therapy. Mechanistically, two key transcription factors are involved in the regulation of LGALS1 expression and function. Upstream, STAT3 directly binds to the promoter of LGALS1 and robustly upregulates its expression. Downstream, galectin1 forms a complex with the transcription factor homeobox5 (HOXA5) to reprogram BTSC transcriptional landscape and drive glioblastoma tumourigenesis. Our data unravel a novel LGALS1/HOXA5 oncogenic signalling pathway that is required for BTSC maintenance and the pathogenesis of EGFRvIII subtype of glioblastoma.

scholarly journals Comparison of Sterol Import under Aerobic and Anaerobic Conditions in Three Fungal Species, Candida albicans, Candida glabrata, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae

2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 725-738 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Zavrel ◽  
Sam J. Hoot ◽  
Theodore C. White
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Candida Albicans ◽  
Exponential Growth ◽  
Candida Glabrata ◽  
Fungal Species ◽  
Growth Phases ◽  
Anaerobic Conditions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Aerobic And Anaerobic ◽  
Aerobic And Anaerobic Conditions

ABSTRACTSterol import has been characterized under various conditions in three distinct fungal species, the model organismSaccharomyces cerevisiaeand two human fungal pathogensCandida glabrataandCandida albicans, employing cholesterol, the sterol of higher eukaryotes, as well as its fungal equivalent, ergosterol. Import was confirmed by the detection of esterified cholesterol within the cells. Comparing the three fungal species, we observe sterol import under three different conditions. First, as previously well characterized, we observe sterol import under low oxygen levels inS. cerevisiaeandC. glabrata, which is dependent on the transcription factor Upc2 and/or its orthologs or paralogs. Second, we observe sterol import under aerobic conditions exclusively in the two pathogenic fungiC. glabrataandC. albicans. Uptake emerges during post-exponential-growth phases, is independent of the characterized Upc2-pathway and is slower compared to the anaerobic uptake inS. cerevisiaeandC. glabrata. Third, we observe under normoxic conditions inC. glabratathat Upc2-dependent sterol import can be induced in the presence of fetal bovine serum together with fluconazole. In summary,C. glabrataimports sterols both in aerobic and anaerobic conditions, and the limited aerobic uptake can be further stimulated by the presence of serum together with fluconazole.S. cerevisiaeimports sterols only in anaerobic conditions, demonstrating aerobic sterol exclusion. Finally,C. albicansimports sterols exclusively aerobically in post-exponential-growth phases, independent of Upc2. For the first time, we provide direct evidence of sterol import into the human fungal pathogenC. albicans, which until now was believed to be incapable of active sterol import.

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