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Rad6p represses yeast‐hypha morphogenesis in the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans
Author(s) -
Leng P.,
Sudbery P. E.,
Brown A. J. P.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
molecular microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.857
H-Index - 247
eISSN - 1365-2958
pISSN - 0950-382X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2958.2000.01801.x
Subject(s) - biology , candida albicans , hypha , saccharomyces cerevisiae , mutant , morphogenesis , yeast , microbiology and biotechnology , gene , fungal protein , chromatin , genetics
Rad6p plays important roles in post‐replication DNA repair, chromatin organization, gene silencing and meiosis. In this study, we show that Rad6p also regulates yeast‐hypha morphogenesis in the human pathogen Candida albicans . CaRAD6 gene and cDNAs were isolated and characterized revealing that the gene carries two 5′‐proximal introns. CaRad6p shows a high degree of sequence similarity to Rad6 proteins from fungi to man (60–83% identity), and it suppresses the UV sensitivity and lack of induced mutagenesis displayed by a Saccharomyces cerevisiae rad6 mutant. In C. albicans, CaRAD6 expression is induced in response to UV, and CaRad6p depletion confers UV sensitivity, confirming that Rad6p serves a role in protecting this fungus against UV damage. CaRAD6 overexpression inhibits hyphal development, whereas CaRad6p depletion enhances hyphal growth. Also, CaRAD6 mRNA levels decrease during the yeast‐hypha transition. These effects are dependent on Efg1p, but not Cph1p, indicating that CaRad6p acts specifically through the Efg1p morphogenetic signalling pathway to repress yeast‐hypha morphogenesis.