Summary Our published research has focused upon the role of Goa1p, an apparent regulator of the Candida albicans mitochondrial complex I (CI). Lack of Goa1p effects optimum cell growth, CI activity, and virulence. Eukaryotic CI is composed of a core of 14 alpha-proteobacterial subunit proteins and a variable number of supernumerary subunit proteins. Of the latter group of proteins, one (NUZM) is fungal-specific, and a second (NUXM) is found in fungi, algae and plants but is not a mammalian CI subunit protein. We have established that NUXM is orf19.6607 and NUZM is orf19.287 in C. albicans. Herein, we validate both subunit proteins as NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductases (NUO) and annotate their gene functions. To accomplish these objectives, we compared null mutants of each with WT and gene-reconstituted strains. Genetic mutants of genes NUO1 (19.6607) and NUO2 (19.287), not surprisingly, each had reduced oxygen consumption, decreased mitochondrial redox potential, decreased CI activity, increased reactive oxidant species (ROS), and a decrease in chronological aging in vitro. Loss of either gene results in a disassembly of CI. Transcriptional profiling of both mutants indicated significant down regulation of genes of carbon metabolism, as well as upregulation of mitochondrial-associated gene families which may occur to compensate for the loss of CI activity. Profiling of both mutants also demonstrated a loss of cell wall β-mannosylation but not in a conserved CI subunit (ndh51Δ). The profiling data may indicate specific functions driven by the enzymatic activity of Nuo1p and Nuo2p. Of importance, each mutant is also avirulent in a murine blood-borne, invasive model of candidiasis associated with their reduced colonization of tissues. Based upon their fungal-specificity and roles in virulence, we suggest both as drug targets for antifungal drug discovery.
dMitochondrial dysfunction in pathogenic fungi or model yeast causes altered susceptibilities to antifungal drugs. Here we have characterized the role of mitochondrial complex I (CI) of Candida albicans in antifungal susceptibility. Inhibitors of CI to CV, except for CII, increased the susceptibility of both patient and lab isolates, even those with a resistance phenotype. In addition, in a C. albicans library of 12 CI null mutants, 10 displayed hypersusceptibility to fluconazole and were severely growth inhibited on glycerol, implying a role for each gene in cell respiration. We chose two other hypersusceptible null mutants of C. albicans, the goa1⌬ and ndh51⌬ mutants, for transcriptional profiling by RNA-Seq. Goa1p is required for CI activity, while Ndh51p is a CI subunit. RNA-Seq revealed that both the ndh51⌬ mutant and especially the goa1⌬ mutant had significant downregulation of transporter genes, including CDR1 and CDR2, which encode efflux proteins. In the goa1⌬ mutant, we noted the downregulation of genes required for the biogenesis and replication of peroxisomes, as well as metabolic pathways assigned to peroxisomes such as -oxidation of fatty acids, glyoxylate bypass, and acetyl coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA) transferases that are known to shuttle acetyl-CoA between peroxisomes and mitochondria. The transcriptome profile of the ndh51⌬ mutant did not include downregulation of peroxisome genes but had, instead, extensive downregulation of the ergosterol synthesis gene family. Our data establish that cell energy is required for azole susceptibility and that downregulation of efflux genes may be an outcome of that dysfunction. However, there are mutant-specific changes that may also increase the susceptibility of both of these C. albicans mutants to azoles.
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