ABSTRACT: Transcriptome response of the yeasts C. glabrata and S. cerevisiae treated by an antifungal agent, benomyl Keywords: time course; stress response
Project description:Transcriptome response of the yeasts C. glabrata and S. cerevisiae treated by an antifungal agent, benomyl Keywords: time course; stress response We performed microarray analyses of the transcriptome response of the yeasts Candida glabrata and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, treated by an antifungal agent, benomyl. The C. glabrata cells were submitted to 20 μg/mL of benomyl for 2, 4, 10, 20, 40 and 80 minutes. The labelled cDNA from treated cells were competitively hybridized on microarrays versus cDNA from mock treated cells.
Project description:Unusually among fungi, Saccharomyces cerevisiae is able to grow in environments containing almost no oxygen. A major feature of its response to hypoxia is a transition in expression from aerobic to hypoxic genes, which often code for duplicated isoforms of the same protein. In aerobic conditions, expression of the hypoxic gene set is repressed by the HMG domain protein Rox1. Here, we examined the evolution of ROX1 and related genes in the subphylum Saccharomycotina and find that a substantial reorganization of hypoxic gene regulation occurred during yeast evolution. S. cerevisiae lost ROX2, an ancient paralog of ROX1, which is almost universally present in other yeast species. ROX2 is orthologous to Candida albicans RFG1, a regulator of filamentous growth. Many yeasts, such as Candida glabrata, lack ROX1 and contain only ROX2. Others such as Naumovozyma castellii retain both genes. Although the ancestral function of ROX2 is uncertain, we find that it is not a regulator of hypoxic genes except in C. glabrata where it has taken over this function from the absent ROX1. We also find that N. castellii has a greatly attenuated transcriptional response to hypoxia as compared to other species, but that the ergosterol pathway which is normally induced by hypoxia can be induced by cobalt chloride stress in N. castellii.
Project description:Candida yeasts causing human infections are spread across the yeast phylum with Candida glabrata being related to Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Candida krusei grouping to Pichia spp., and Candida albicans, Candida parapsilosis and Candida tropicalis belonging to the CTG-clade. The latter lineage contains yeasts with an altered genetic code translating CUG codons as serine using a serine-tRNA with a mutated anticodon. It has been suggested that the CTG-clade CUG codons are mistranslated to a small extent as leucine due to mischarging of the serine-tRNA(CAG). The mistranslation was suggested to result in variable surface proteins explaining fast host adaptation and pathogenicity. Here, we re-assessed this potential mistranslation by high-resolution mass spectrometry-based proteogenomics of multiple CTG-clade yeasts, various C. albicans strains, isolated from colonized and from infected human body sites, and C. albicans grown in yeast and hyphal forms.
Project description:Aims: We performed an analysis of maltotriose utilization by 52 Saccharomyces yeast strains able to ferment maltose efficiently and correlated the observed phenotypes with differences in the copy number of genes possibly involved in maltotriose utilization by yeast cells. Methods and Results: The analysis of maltose and maltotriose utilization by laboratory and industrial strains of the species Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Saccharomyces pastorianus (a natural S. cerevisiae/Saccharomyces bayanus hybrid) was carried out using microscale liquid cultivation, as well as in aerobic batch cultures. All strains utilize maltose efficiently as a carbon source, but three different phenotypes were observed for maltotriose utilization: efficient growth, slow/delayed growth and no growth. Through microarray karyotyping and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis blots, we analysed the copy number and localization of several maltose-related genes in selected S. cerevisiae strains. While most strains lacked the MPH2 and MPH3 transporter genes, almost all strains analysed had the AGT1 gene and increased copy number of MALx1 permeases. Conclusions: Our results showed that S. pastorianus yeast strains utilized maltotriose more efficiently than S. cerevisiae strains and highlighted the importance of the AGT1 gene for efficient maltotriose utilization by S. cerevisiae yeasts. Significance and Impact of the Study: Our results revealed new maltotriose utilization phenotypes, contributing to a better understanding of the metabolism of this carbon source for improved fermentation by Saccharomyces yeasts.
Project description:Eukaryotic transcription activators stimulate the expression of specific sets of target genes through recruitment of co-activators such as the RNA polymerase II-interacting Mediator complex. We previously identified an activator-targeted ~85 amino acid three-helix bundle KIX domain in the human MED15 Mediator subunit that is structurally conserved in Gal11 Mediator subunits in fungi. The Gal11 KIX domain is engaged by pleiotropic drug resistance transcription factor (Pdr1) orthologues, key regulators of the multidrug resistance (MDR) pathway in S. cerevisiae and in the clinically important human pathogen Candida glabrata. Drug-resistant clinical isolates of C. glabrata most commonly harbour point mutations in Pdr1 that render it constitutively active, suggesting that this transcriptional activation pathway may represent a lynchpin in C. glabrata MDR. We have now carried out sequential biochemical and in vivo high-throughput screens to identify small molecule inhibitors of the interaction of the C. glabrata Pdr1 activation domain with the C. glabrata Gal11A KIX domain. The lead compound (iKIX1) inhibits Pdr1-dependent gene activation in both S. cerevisiae and C. glabrata and re-sensitizes drug-resistant C. glabrata to effective azole antifungal concentrations in vitro and in animal models for disseminated and urinary tract C. glabrata infection. Samples are generated in triplicate for four conditions (DMSO/vehicle-treated, iKIX1-treated, DMSO/vehicle and ketoconazole-treated. and iKIX1-ketoconazole treated) in both Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida glabrata
Project description:Eukaryotic transcription activators stimulate the expression of specific sets of target genes through recruitment of co-activators such as the RNA polymerase II-interacting Mediator complex. We previously identified an activator-targeted ~85 amino acid three-helix bundle KIX domain in the human MED15 Mediator subunit that is structurally conserved in Gal11 Mediator subunits in fungi. The Gal11 KIX domain is engaged by pleiotropic drug resistance transcription factor (Pdr1) orthologues, key regulators of the multidrug resistance (MDR) pathway in S. cerevisiae and in the clinically important human pathogen Candida glabrata. Drug-resistant clinical isolates of C. glabrata most commonly harbour point mutations in Pdr1 that render it constitutively active, suggesting that this transcriptional activation pathway may represent a lynchpin in C. glabrata MDR. We have now carried out sequential biochemical and in vivo high-throughput screens to identify small molecule inhibitors of the interaction of the C. glabrata Pdr1 activation domain with the C. glabrata Gal11A KIX domain. The lead compound (iKIX1) inhibits Pdr1-dependent gene activation in both S. cerevisiae and C. glabrata and re-sensitizes drug-resistant C. glabrata to effective azole antifungal concentrations in vitro and in animal models for disseminated and urinary tract C. glabrata infection.