Project description:Fungal infections cause significant mortality and morbidity worldwide, and the limited existing antifungal reservoir is further weakened by the emergence of strains resistant to echinocandins, a first line of antifungal therapy. Candida glabrata is an opportunistic fungal pathogen that rapidly develops mutations in the echinocandin drug target β-1,3-glucan synthase (GS), which are associated with drug resistance and clinical failure. Although echinocandins are considered fungicidal in Candida sp., a subset of C. glabrata cells survive echinocandin exposure, forming a drug-tolerant cell reservoir, from which resistant mutations are thought to emerge. Despite their importance, the physiology of rare drug-tolerant cells is poorly understood. We used fluorescence-activated cell sorting to enrich for echinocandin-tolerant cells, followed by modified single-cell RNA sequencing to examine their transcriptional landscape. This analysis identified a transcriptional signature distinct from the stereotypical yeast environmental stress response and characterized by upregulation of pathways involved in chromosome structure and DNA topology and downregulation of oxidative stress responses, of which the latter was observed despite increased levels of reactive oxygen species. Further analyses implicated mitochondria in echinocandin tolerance, wherein inhibitors of mitochondrial complexes I and IV reduced echinocandin-mediated cell killing, but mutants lacking various mitochondrial components all showed an echinocandin hypotolerant phenotype. Finally, GS enzyme complexes purified from mitochondrial mutants exhibited normal in vitro inhibition kinetics, indicating that mitochondrial defects influence cell survival downstream of the drug-target interaction. Together, these results provide new insights into the C. glabrata response to echinocandins and reveal a multifactorial role of mitochondria in echinocandin tolerance. IMPORTANCE Echinocandin drugs are a first-line therapy to treat invasive candidiasis, which is a major source of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida glabrata is a prominent bloodstream fungal pathogen, and it is notable for rapidly developing echinocandin-resistant strains associated with clinical failure. Echinocandin resistance is thought to emerge within a small echinocandin-tolerant subset of C. glabrata cells that are not killed by drug exposure, but mechanisms underlying echinocandin tolerance are still unknown. Here, we describe the unique transcriptional signature of echinocandin-tolerant cells and the results of follow-up analyses, which reveal a multifactorial role of mitochondria in C. glabrata echinocandin tolerance. In particular, although chemical inhibition of respiratory chain enzymes increased echinocandin tolerance, deletion of multiple mitochondrial components made C. glabrata cells hypotolerant to echinocandins. Together, these results provide new insights into the C. glabrata response to echinocandins and reveal the involvement of mitochondria in echinocandin tolerance.
Project description:The cell wall is essential for viability of fungi and is an effective drug target in pathogens such as Candida albicans. The contribution of posttranscriptional gene regulators to cell wall integrity in C. albicans is unknown. We show that the C. albicans Ccr4-Pop2 mRNA deadenylase, a regulator of mRNA stability and translation, is required for cell wall integrity. The ccr4/pop2 mutants display reduced wall β-glucans and sensitivity to the echinocandin caspofungin. Moreover, the deadenylase mutants are compromised for filamentation and virulence. We demonstrate that defective cell walls in the ccr4/pop2 mutants are linked to dysfunctional mitochondria and phospholipid imbalance. To further understand mitochondrial function in cell wall integrity, we screened a Saccharomyces cerevisiae collection of mitochondrial mutants. We identify several mitochondrial proteins required for caspofungin tolerance and find a connection between mitochondrial phospholipid homeostasis and caspofungin sensitivity. We focus on the mitochondrial outer membrane SAM complex subunit Sam37, demonstrating it is required for both trafficking of phospholipids between the ER and mitochondria and cell wall integrity. Moreover, in C. albicans also Sam37 is essential for caspofungin tolerance. Our study provides the basis for an integrative view of mitochondrial function in fungal cell wall biogenesis and resistance to echinocandin antifungal drugs. Two-color experimental design comparing cells with a double-knockout of the CCR4 genes to cells with a reintegrated CCR4 gene.
Project description:The cell wall is essential for viability of fungi and is an effective drug target in pathogens such as Candida albicans. The contribution of posttranscriptional gene regulators to cell wall integrity in C. albicans is unknown. We show that the C. albicans Ccr4-Pop2 mRNA deadenylase, a regulator of mRNA stability and translation, is required for cell wall integrity. The ccr4/pop2 mutants display reduced wall β-glucans and sensitivity to the echinocandin caspofungin. Moreover, the deadenylase mutants are compromised for filamentation and virulence. We demonstrate that defective cell walls in the ccr4/pop2 mutants are linked to dysfunctional mitochondria and phospholipid imbalance. To further understand mitochondrial function in cell wall integrity, we screened a Saccharomyces cerevisiae collection of mitochondrial mutants. We identify several mitochondrial proteins required for caspofungin tolerance and find a connection between mitochondrial phospholipid homeostasis and caspofungin sensitivity. We focus on the mitochondrial outer membrane SAM complex subunit Sam37, demonstrating it is required for both trafficking of phospholipids between the ER and mitochondria and cell wall integrity. Moreover, in C. albicans also Sam37 is essential for caspofungin tolerance. Our study provides the basis for an integrative view of mitochondrial function in fungal cell wall biogenesis and resistance to echinocandin antifungal drugs.
Project description:Aspergillus species are a leading cause of invasive fungal infections. As resistance to first-line therapy involving triazole antifungal agents is rising, second-line therapy with echinocandins is expanding. Resistance to echinocandins is well-established to result from amino acid substitutions in the echinocandin drug target β-(1,3)-D-glucan synthase encoded by the fks1 gene. Recently, we identified several high MIC clinical isolates of A. fumigatus from patients failing echinocandin therapy that did not contain any mutation in the fks1 gene, indicating that echinocandin resistance in these isolates results from an undefined mechanism. To explore possible new mechanisms of resistance, we used a lab-derived strain, RG101, with a nearly identical susceptibility phenotype, as a model system. This strain does not contain fks1 mutations but showed prominent resistance to the echinocandin class drug caspofungin (CAS), while remaining sensitive to other echinocandins, azoles and polyenes. Glucan synthase isolated from RG101 was fully sensitive to drug. Yet, exposure to CAS during its growth yielded a modified enzyme that was insensitive (4-log orders) in kinetic inhibition assays to CAS, as well as other echinocandins. This induction of cross-resistance by CAS was also observed in clinical isolates. To determine the nature of a presumptive posttranslational modification (PTM) of the enzyme, we analyzed whole enzyme PTMs, including the known hot-spot regions, for methylation, acetylation and phosphorylation. While we did not identify any PTMs linked to resistance, analysis of the lipid microenvironment of CAS-induced resistant enzyme revealed a prominent increase in the abundance of dihydrosphingosine (DhSph) and phytosphingosine (PhSph). Exogenous addition of DhSph and PhSph to sensitive enzyme in in vitro kinetic inhibition assays recapitulated the CAS insensitivity of the cellular-derived enzyme. To further examine induction of drug-induced resistance, we used an in vitro assay to demonstrate that CAS, but not other echinocandin class drugs, prominently induced the production of mitochondrial-derived Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) in A. fumigatus. RNASeq evaluation of whole cells confirmed a ROS signature in cells treated with CAS. Dampening the formation of ROS by antimycin A or thiourea eliminated the induction of drug resistance by CAS. We conclude that CAS-induced formation of ROS promotes a cellular stress response that alters the composition of plasma membrane lipids surrounding glucan synthase, changing its enzymatic properties to make it insensitive to echinocandins. This stress-induced response constitutes a novel mechanism of echinocandin resistance in Aspergillus, with implications for drug resistance and/or tolerance mechanisms in other fungal pathogens.
Project description:With the growing limitations on arable land, alfalfa (a widely cultivated, low-input forage) is now being selected to extend cultivation into saline lands for low-cost biofeedstock purposes. Here, minerals and transcriptome profiles were compared between two new salinity-tolerant North American alfalfa breeding populations and a more salinity-sensitive Western Canadian alfalfa population grown under hydroponic saline conditions. All three populations accumulated two-fold higher sodium in roots than shoots as a function of increased electrical conductivity. At least 50% of differentially expressed genes (p < 0.05) were down-regulated in the salt-sensitive population growing under high salinity, while remaining unchanged in the saline-tolerant populations. In particular, most reduction in transcript levels in the salt-sensitive population were observed in genes specifying cell wall structural components, lipids, secondary metabolism, auxin and ethylene hormones, development, transport, signalling, heat shock, proteolysis, pathogenesis-response, abiotic stress, RNA processing, and protein metabolism. Transcript diversity for transcription factors, protein modification, and protein degradation genes was also more strongly affected in salt-tolerant CW064027 than in salt-tolerant Bridgeview and salt-sensitive Rangelander, while both saline-tolerant populations showed more substantial up-regulation in redox-related genes and B-ZIP transcripts. The report highlights the first use of bulked genotypes as replicated samples to compare the transcriptomes of obligate out-cross breeding populations in alfalfa. Three lines of Alfalfa (salt-tolerant CW064027, salt-tolerant Bridgeview, salt-sensitive Rangelander) were grown on 3 different concentrations of salt. For each cultivar-salt condition, 3 biological replicates were collected for a total of 27 samples.