Dataset Information

Differential gene expression in a Cryptococcus neoformans ccr4Delta mutant during host-temperature adaptation

ABSTRACT: Analysis of ccr4 Delta vs. wild type shifted from 30oC to 37oC for 10 minutes To determine the effect of ccr4 deletion on temperature stress-responsive changes in gene expression in C. neoformans

ORGANISM(S): Cryptococcus neoformans var. neoformans Cryptococcus neoformans

PROVIDER: GSE28592 | GEO | 2011/07/11

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA139121

REPOSITORIES: GEO

ACCESS DATA

Shared Molecules

Only show the datasets with similarity scores above: 0.5

Threshold

0.5

Similar Datasets

Project description:The target of rapamycin (TOR) pathway is an evolutionarily conserved signal transduction system that is activated by varying nutrient and environmental signals and governs a plethora of eukaryotic biological processes. Nevertheless, its role in the human fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans remains elusive. In this study, we investigated the TOR pathway by functionally characterizing two Tor-like kinases, Tor1 and Tlk1, in C. neoformans. We successfully deleted TLK1, but not TOR1. TLK1 deletion did not result in any evident in vitro phenotypes, except for a minor role in diamide and polyene resistance, suggesting that Tlk1 is mainly dispensable for the growth of C. neoformans. We further demonstrated that Tor1, but not Tlk1, is essential and the target of rapamycin by constructing and analyzing conditionally regulated strains and sporulation analysis of heterozygous mutants in the diploid strain background. To analyze the functions of Tor1 in more detail, we constructed constitutive TOR1 overexpression strains. Tor1 negatively regulated thermotolerance and the DNA damage response, which are two important virulence factors of C. neoformans. We also found that TOR1 overexpression reduced Mpk1 phosphorylation, which is required for cell wall integrity and thermoresistance, and Rad53 phosphorylation, which governs the DNA damage response pathway. Tor1 is localized to the cytoplasm but enriched in the vacuole membrane. Phosphoproteomics and transcriptomics revealed that Tor1 regulates a variety of biological processes, including metabolic processes, cytoskeleton organization, ribosome biogenesis, autophagy, and stress response. Finally, screening rapamycin-sensitive and -resistant kinase and transcription factor mutants revealed that the TOR pathway may crosstalk with a number of signaling pathways, including the Hog1 pathway. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that a single Tor1 kinase plays a variety of roles in the fungal meningitis pathogen C. neoformans.