Virulence genes in the pathogenic yeast Candida albicans

Navarro‐García, Federico

doi:10.1016/s0168-6445(00)00066-8

Cited by 98 publications

(108 citation statements)

References 128 publications

(173 reference statements)

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“…The morphogenetic yeast-to-hyphae transition has been extensively studied in C. albicans: this phenomenon is dependent upon the specific activation of several signal transduction pathways in response to different environmental stimuli (Brown and Gow, 1999;Ernst, 2000;Whiteway, 2000). Nevertheless, not all the signals triggering morphogenetic changes have been identified accurately, especially in the case of C. albicans macrophage infection, which has been poorly studied so far (for review, see Navarro-Garcia et al, 2001). The aim of the present study was to identify genes from C. albicans that were specifically upregulated during phagocytosis, and that allow Candida cells to survive and prevent phagolysosome formation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genes involved in β‐oxidation, energy metabolism and glyoxylate cycle are induced by Candida albicans during macrophage infection

Prigneau

Porta

Poudrier

et al. 2003

Yeast

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The ability of intracellular pathogens to cause infection is related to their capacity to survive and grow inside macrophages or in other cell types. Candida albicans latent virulence is likely to be related to a similar mechanism of avoiding killing by specialized cells and to the resulting ability to grow in such hostile environments. Using a differential display reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction technique, we have identified seven genes induced in C. albicans during macrophage phagocytosis. Sequence analyses and database searches revealed that these cDNAs coded for proteins homologous to yeast metabolic proteins. Interestingly, four of them are putative peroxisomal proteins, and two are involved in environmental signal sensing and transduction. Among the seven genes induced by C. albicans, six represent new information that were not described in other infection models.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genes involved in β‐oxidation, energy metabolism and glyoxylate cycle are induced by Candida albicans during macrophage infection

Prigneau

Porta

Poudrier

et al. 2003

Yeast

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“…Candida albicans is the most prevalent cause of fungal infections, mainly because of its commensal role in the intestinal and vaginal tracts; it is, therefore, a well-established model of a fungal pathogen for which different genetic tools have been recently developed (19,57). In this organism, some elements of the HOG pathway have been recently identified.…”

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confidence: 99%

The Sho1 Adaptor Protein Links Oxidative Stress to Morphogenesis and Cell Wall Biosynthesis in the Fungal Pathogen Candida albicans

Román

Nombela

Pla

2005

Molecular and Cellular Biology

155

235

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The Sho1 adaptor protein is an important element of one of the two upstream branches of the highosmolarity glycerol (HOG) mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a signal transduction cascade involved in adaptation to stress. In the present work, we describe its role in the pathogenic yeast Candida albicans by the construction of mutants altered in this gene. We report here that sho1 mutants are sensitive to oxidative stress but that Sho1 has a minor role in the transmission of the phosphorylation signal to the Hog1 MAP kinase in response to oxidative stress, which mainly occurs through a putative Sln1-Ssk1 branch of the HOG pathway. Genetic analysis revealed that double ssk1 sho1 mutants were still able to grow on high-osmolarity media and activate Hog1 in response to this stress, indicating the existence of alternative inputs of the pathway. We also demonstrate that the Cek1 MAP kinase is constitutively active in hog1 and ssk1 mutants, a phenotypic trait that correlates with their resistance to the cell wall inhibitor Congo red, and that Sho1 is essential for the activation of the Cek1 MAP kinase under different conditions that require active cell growth and/or cell wall remodeling, such as the resumption of growth upon exit from the stationary phase. sho1 mutants are also sensitive to certain cell wall interfering compounds (Congo red, calcofluor white), presenting an altered cell wall structure (as shown by the ability to aggregate), and are defective in morphogenesis on different media, such as SLAD and Spider, that stimulate hyphal growth. These results reveal a role for the Sho1 protein in linking oxidative stress, cell wall biogenesis, and morphogenesis in this important human fungal pathogen.

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“…Although these genes are highly induced during filamentous growth, they are not required for filamentous growth per se, as mutants with these genes deleted still form hyphae and pseudohyphae. Most of these genes do not have clear homologs in S. cerevisiae and are therefore thought to define aspects of C. albicans-host interactions (3,23,31,33,41).…”

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confidence: 99%

Identification and Characterization of a Candida albicans Mating Pheromone

Bennett

Uhl

Miller

et al. 2003

Molecular and Cellular Biology

154

230

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Candida albicans, the most prevalent fungal pathogen of humans, has recently been shown to undergo mating. Here we describe a mating pheromone produced by C. albicans ␣ cells and show that the gene which encodes it (MF␣) is required for ␣ cells, but not a cells, to mate. We also identify the receptor for this mating pheromone as the product of the STE2 gene and show that this gene is required for the mating of a cells, but not ␣ cells. Cells of the a mating type respond to the ␣ mating pheromone by producing long polarized projections, similar to those observed in bona fide mating mixtures of C. albicans a and ␣ cells. During this process, transcription of approximately 62 genes is induced. Although some of these genes correspond to those induced in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by S. cerevisiae ␣-factor, most are specific to the C. albicans pheromone response. The most surprising class encode cell surface and secreted proteins previously implicated in virulence of C. albicans in a mouse model of disseminated candidiasis. This observation suggests that aspects of cell-cell communication in mating may have been evolutionarily adopted for host-pathogen interactions in C. albicans.Candida albicans is the most common fungal pathogen in humans and is responsible for a wide variety of mucosal and systemic infections (9). Two aspects of C. albicans biology are examined in this paper. The first is a group of hypha-specific gene products required for full virulence in a disseminated model of candidiasis. These genes include HWP1 (whose product is required for efficient attachment to epithelial cells) (38), SAP4, SAP5, and SAP6 (which encode aspartyl proteases required for tissue invasion) (6, 12), RBT1 and ECE1 (which encode cell surface proteins of unknown function), and RBT4

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Virulence genes in the pathogenic yeast Candida albicans

Cited by 98 publications

References 128 publications

Genes involved in β‐oxidation, energy metabolism and glyoxylate cycle are induced by Candida albicans during macrophage infection

Genes involved in β‐oxidation, energy metabolism and glyoxylate cycle are induced by Candida albicans during macrophage infection

The Sho1 Adaptor Protein Links Oxidative Stress to Morphogenesis and Cell Wall Biosynthesis in the Fungal Pathogen Candida albicans

Identification and Characterization of a Candida albicans Mating Pheromone

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