The fungal pathogen Candida albicans switches from a yeast-like to a filamentous mode of growth in response to a variety of environmental conditions. We examined the morphogenetic behavior of C. albicans yeast cells lacking the BCY1 gene, which encodes the regulatory subunit of protein kinase A. We cloned the BCY1 gene and generated a bcy1 tpk2 double mutant strain because a homozygous bcy1 mutant in a wild-type genetic background could not be obtained. In the bcy1 tpk2 mutant, protein kinase A activity (due to the presence of the TPK1 gene) was cyclic AMP independent, indicating that the cells harbored an unregulated phosphotransferase activity. This mutant has constitutive protein kinase A activity and displayed a defective germinative phenotype in N-acetylglucosamine and in serum-containing medium. The subcellular localization of a Tpk1-green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion protein was examined in wild-type, tpk2 null, and bcy1 tpk2 double mutant strains. The fusion protein was observed to be predominantly nuclear in wild-type and tpk2 strains. This was not the case in the bcy1 tpk2 double mutant, where it appeared dispersed throughout the cell. Coimmunoprecipitation of Bcy1p with the Tpk1-GFP fusion protein demonstrated the interaction of these proteins inside the cell. These results suggest that one of the roles of Bcy1p is to tether the protein kinase A catalytic subunit to the nucleus.Candida albicans is an opportunistic human fungal pathogen of great medical significance in immunocompromised patients (25). This fungus has the capability of switching its mode of growth between budding yeast and hypha or pseudohypha in response to environmental signals. Genetic evidence indicates that the morphogenetic switch to the hyphal mode of growth, though associated with pathogenicity and virulence (20), is necessary but not sufficient to trigger disease (5). The relationship between morphology and pathogenicity has been the focus of intensive research devoted to the study of the developmental programs involved in the dimorphic transition.The remarkable conservation of signal transduction pathways in fungi allowed the identification of components of these pathways in several fungal species based on the insight gained from studying pseudohyphal differentiation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In C. albicans, two major pathways implicated in dimorphism could be established: the mitogen-activated protein kinase and the cyclic AMP (cAMP)/protein kinase A transduction pathways (for a review, see reference 19).Initial biochemical studies indicate that high cAMP levels promote the yeast-to-hypha transition in C. albicans (23,31). In addition, we have shown that in vivo inhibition of protein kinase A blocks hyphal growth induced by N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) (6). Recent genetic studies allowed the identification of the genes involved in the cAMP/protein kinase A pathway. A transduction cascade similar to that of S. cerevisiae, with regard to location and function of the homologous components, has been established. Thus, CaRa...

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Candida albicans cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) is coded by two catalytic subunits (TPK1 and TPK2 ) and one regulatory subunit (BCY1 ). In this organism the cAMP/PKA signalling pathway mediates basic cellular processes, such as the yeastto-hyphae transition and cell cycle regulation. In the present study, we investigated the role of C. albicans PKA in response to saline, heat and oxidative stresses as well as in glycogen storage. To fine-tune the analysis, we performed the studies on several C. albicans PKA mutants having heterozygous or homozygous deletions of TPK1 and/or TPK2 in a different BCY1 genetic background. We observed that tpk1 /tpk1 strains developed a lower tolerance to saline exposure, heat shock and oxidative stress, while wild-type and tpk2 /tpk2 mutants were resistant to these stresses, indicating that both isoforms play different roles in the stress response pathway. We also found that regardless of the TPK background, heterozygous and homozygous BCY1 mutants were highly sensitive to heat treatment. Surprisingly, we observed that those strains devoid of one or both TPK1 alleles were defective in glycogen storage, while strains lacking Tpk2 accumulated higher levels of the polysaccharide, indicating that Tpk1 and Tpk2 have opposite roles in carbohydrate metabolism.

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A senescence-specific protease accounting for almost 70% of the total peptide hydrolytic activity of protein extracts, was isolated from detached wheat leaves induced to senescence by incubation in the dark for 72 h. Purification to apparent homogeneity was performed by ammonium sulphate precipitation, ion exchange chromatography and gel filtration chromatography. The enzymatic activity was followed by its ability to hydrolyse the synthetic peptide Suc-AAPF-pNA. SDS/PAGE and gel filtration analysis indicated that the enzyme was a dimer composed of two identical subunits of 59 kDa. The apparent K m and V max for the peptide were 1.18 mM and 2.27 mmol pNA mg À1 h À1 , respectively. The enzyme was active at pH values above 8.0 and remained active after heat treatment at 60 C for 10 min. It was inhibited by chymostatin, indicating that the enzyme possesses a chymotrypsin-like activity. Rubisco was readily hydrolysed by the purified protease. A sequenced internal fragment of 17 amino acids showed a high level of similarity (65-75% identity) with a highly conserved region of several plant subtilisin-like serine proteases. The absence of this enzymatic activity in fractionated extracts from non-senescent tissues suggests that it might play a role in the senescing process.

Candida albicans undergoes a reversible morphological transition from single yeast cells to pseudohyphal and hyphal filaments. In this organism, cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA), coded by two catalytic subunits (TPK1 and TPK2 ) and one regulatory subunit (BCY1 ), mediates basic cellular processes, such as the yeastto-hypha transition and cell cycle regulation. It is known that both Tpk isoforms play positive roles in vegetative growth and filamentation, although distinct roles have been found in virulence, stress response and glycogen storage. However, little is known regarding the participation of Tpk1p and/or Tpk2p in pseudohyphal development. This point was addressed using several C. albicans PKA mutants having heterozygous or homozygous deletions of TPK1 and/or TPK2 in different BCY1 genetic backgrounds. We observed that under hypha-only inducing conditions, all BCY1 heterozygous strains shifted growth toward pseudohyphal morphology; however, the pseudohypha : hypha ratio was higher in strains devoid of TPK2. Under pseudohypha-only inducing conditions, strains lacking TPK2 were prone to develop short and branched pseudohyphae. In tpk2 /tpk2 strains, biofilm architecture was markedly less dense, composed of short pseudohyphae and blastospores with reduced adhesion ability to abiotic material, suggesting a significant defect in cell adherence. Immunolabelling assays showed a decreased expression of adhesins Als1p and Als3p only in the tpk2 /tpk2 strain. Complementation of this mutant with a wild-type copy of TPK2 restored all the altered functions: pseudohyphae elongation, biofilm composition, cell aggregation and adhesins expression. Our study suggests that the Tpk2p isoform may be part of a mechanism underlying not only polarized pseudohyphal morphogenesis but also cell adherence.

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Although a number of nucleoside diphosphate kinases (NDPKs) have been reported to act as inhibitors of metastasis or as a transcription factor in mammals, it is not known whether these functions are linked to their enzymatic activity or how this protein is regulated. In this report, we show that in vitro protein kinase CK2 catalyzed phosphorylation of human NDPK A inhibits its enzymatic activity by inhibiting the fust step of its ping-pong mechanism of catalysis: its autophosphorylation. Upon in vlvo 32P labeling of HeLa cells, we observed that both human NDPKs, A and B, were autophosphorylated on histidine residues, however, only the B isoform appeared to be serine phosphorylated.