Adaptation of Candida albicans to growth on sorbose via monosomy of chromosome 5 accompanied by duplication of another chromosome carrying a gene responsible for sorbose utilization.

Abstract

Candida albicans, a fungus that normally inhabits the digestive tract and other mucosal surfaces, can become a pathogen in immunocompromised individuals, causing severe or even fatal infection. Mechanisms by which C. albicans can evade commonly used antifungal agents are not fully understood. We are studying a model system involving growth of C. albicans on toxic sugar sorbose, which represses synthesis of cell wall glucan and, as a result, kills fungi in a manner similar to drugs from the echinocandins class. Adaptation to sorbose occurs predominantly due to reversible loss of one homolog of chromosome 5 (Ch5), which results in upregulation of the metabolic gene SOU1 (SOrbose Utilization) on Ch4. Here, we show that growth on sorbose due to Ch5 monosomy can involve a facultative trisomy of a hybrid Ch4/7 that serves to increase copy number of the SOU1 gene. This shows that control of expression of SOU1 can involve multiple mechanisms; in this case, negative regulation and increase in gene copy number operating simultaneously in cell.

• Authors: Anatoliy Kravets, Feng Yang, Gabor Bethlendy, Yongbing Cao, Fred Sherman, Elena Rustchenko
• Journal: FEMS yeast research (FEMS Yeast Res) Vol. 14 Issue 5 Pg. 708-13 (Aug 2014) ISSN: 1567-1364 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 24702787 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: © 2014 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Sorbose

Topics

• Adaptation, Biological
• Candida albicans (genetics, growth & development, metabolism)
• Chromosomes, Fungal
• Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal
• Monosomy
• Sorbose (metabolism, toxicity)
• Trisomy