Homologs of the yeast neck filament associated genes: isolation and sequence analysis of Candida albicans CDC3 and CDC10

Morphogenesis in the yeast Saccharomyes cerevisiae consists primarily of bud formation. Certain cell division cycle (CDC) genes, CDC3, CDC10, CDC11, CDC12, are known to be involved in events critical to the pattern of bud growth and the completion of cytokinesis. Their products are associated with the formation of a ring of neck filaments that forms at the region of the mother cell-bud junction during mitosis. Morphogenesis in Candida albicans, a major fungal pathogen of humans, consists of both budding and the formation of hyphae. The latter is thought to be related to the pathogenesis and invasiveness of C. albicans. We have isolated and characterized C. albicans homologs of the S. cerevisiae CDC3 and CDC10 genes. Both C. albicans genes are capable of complementing defects in the respective S. cerevisiae genes. RNA analysis of one of the genes suggests that it is a regulated gene, with higher overall expression levels during the hyphal phase than in the yeast phase. Not surprisingly, DNA sequence analysis reveals that the proteins share extensive homology at the amino acid level with their respective S. cerevisiae counterparts. Related genes are also found in other species of Candida and, more importantly, in filamentous fungi such as Aspergillus nidulans and Neurospora crassa. A database search revealed significant sequence similarity with two peptides, one from Drosophila and one from mouse, suggesting strong evolutionary conservation of function.     

Molecular cloning and analysis of CDC28 and cyclin homologues from the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans

In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, progress of the cell cycle beyond the major control point in G1 phase, termed START, requires activation of the evolutionarily conserved Cdc28 protein kinase by direct association with GI cyclins. We have used a conditional lethal mutation in CDC28 of S. cerevisiae to clone a functional homologue from the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans. The protein sequence, deduced from the nucleotide sequence, is 79% identical to that of S. cerevisiae Cdc28 and as such is the most closely related protein yet identified. We have also isolated from C. albicans two genes encoding putative G1 cyclins, by their ability to rescue a conditional GI cyclin defect in S. cerevisiae; one of these genes encodes a protein of 697 amino acids and is identical to the product of the previously described CCN1 gene. The second gene codes for a protein of 465 residues, which has significant homology to S. cerevisiae Cln3. These data suggest that the events and regulatory mechanisms operating at START are highly conserved between these two organisms.     

Characterization of CaGSP1, the Candida albicans RAN/GSP1 homologue

Gsp1p is a small nuclear-located GTP binding protein from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It is highly conserved among eucaryotic cells and is involved in numerous cellular processes, including nucleocytoplasmic trafficking of macromolecules. To learn more about the GSP1 structure/function, we have characterized its Candida albicans homologue. CaGsp1p is 214 amino acids long and displays 91% identity to the ScGsp1p. There is functional complementation in S. cerevisiae, and its mRNA is constitutively expressed in the diploid C. albicans grown under various physiological conditions. Disruption of both alleles was not possible, suggesting that it could be an essential gene, but heterozygous mutants exhibited genomic instability.     

Plasmid multimerization is dependent on RAD52 activity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Summary A mutant plasmid, pX, derived from the 1453 base pair small plasmid, YARp1 (or TRP1 RI circle), consists of 849 base pairs of DNA bearing the TRP1 gene and the ARS1 sequence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and, unlike YARp1 and other commonly used yeast plasmids, highly multimerizes in a S. cerevisiae host. The multimerization of pX was dependent on RAD52, which is known to be necessary for homologous recombination in S. cerevisiae. Based upon this observation, a regulated system of multimerization of pX with GAL1 promoter-driven RAD52 has been developed. We conclude that the regulated multimerization of pX could provide a useful model system to study genetic recombination in the eukaryotic cell, in particular to investigate recombination intermediates and the effects of various trans-acting mutations on the multimerization and recombination of plasmids.     

Two subclasses of guanine exchange factor (GEF) domains revealed by comparison of activities of chimeric genes constructed from CDC25, SDC25 and BUD5 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Guanine Exchange Factor (GEF) activity for Ras proteins has been associated with a conserved domain in Cdc25p, Sdc25p in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and several other proteins recently found in other eukaryotes. We have assessed the structure-function relationships between three different members of this family in S. cerevisiae, Cdc25p, Sdc25p and Bud5p. Cdc25p controls the Ras pathway, whereas Bud5p controls bud site localization. We demonstrate that the GEF domain of Sdc25p is closely related to that of Cdc25p. We first constructed a thermosensitive allele of SDC25 by specifically altering amino acid positions known to be changed in the cdc25-1 mutation. Secondly, we constructed three chimeric genes from CDC25 and SDC25, the products of which are as active in the Ras pathway as are the wild-type proteins. In contrast, similar chimeras made between CDC25 and BUD5 lead to proteins that are inactive both in the Ras and budding control pathways. This difference in the ability of chimeric proteins to retain activity allows us to define two subclasses of structurally different GEFs: Cdc25p and Sdc25p are Ras-specific GEFs, and Bud5p is a putative GEF for the Rsr1/Bud1 Rap-like protein.     

Identification and functional characterization of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Candida albicans CDC4</Emphasis>

Summary The CDC4 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae encodes an essential function that is required for G1-S and G2-M transitions during mitosis and at various stages during meiosis. We have isolated a functional homologue of CDC4 (CaCDC4) from the pathogenic yeast Candida albicans by complementing the S. cerevisiae cdc4-3 mutation with CaCDC4 expressed from its own promoter on a single-copy vector. The predicted product of CaCDC4 has 37% overall identity to the S. cerevisiae Cdc4 protein, although this identity is biased towards the C-terminal region of the two proteins which contains eight copies of the degenerate WD-40 motif, an element found in proteins that regulate diverse biological processes and an F-box domain proximal to the first iteration of the WD-40 motif. Both the F-box domain and WD-40 motifs appear necessary for the mitotic functions of Cdc4 in both yeasts. In contrast to its conserved role in mitosis, C. albicans CDC4 is unable to rescue the meiotic deficiency in a S. cerevisiae cdc4 homozygous diploid under restrictive conditions, even when expressed from an efficient S. cerevisiae promoter. In opposition to S. cerevisiae CDC4 being essential, C. albicans CDC4 appears to be nonessential and in its absence is critical for filamentous growth in C. albicans.     

Dimorphism and virulence in Candida albicans

Two regulatory pathways govern filamentation in the pathogenic fungus Candida albicans. Recent virulence studies of filamentation regulatory mutants argue that both yeast and filamentous forms have roles in infection. Filamentation control pathways seem closely related in C. albicans and in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, thus permitting speculation about C. albicans filamentation genes not yet discovered.     

Toxicity of a heterologous leucyl-tRNA (anticodon CAG) in the pathogen Candida albicans: in vivo evidence for non-standard decoding of CUG codons

Plasmids containing derivatives of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae leucyl-tRNA (tRNA3 ₃ ^Leu ) gene that vary in anticodon sequence were constructed and transformed into the pathogen Candida albicans and S. cerevisiae. C. albicans could readily be transformed with plasmids encoding leucyl-tRNA genes with the anticodons CAA and UAA (recognizing the codons UUG and UUA) and expression of the heterologous tRNA^Leu could be demonstrated by Northern RNA blotting. In contrast, no transformants were obtained if the anticodons were UAG (codons recognized CUN, UUR) and CAG (codon CUG), indicating that the insertion of leucine at CUG codons is toxic for C. albicans. All tRNA^Leu-encoding plasmids transformed S. cerevisiae with equally high efficiencies. These results provide in vivo evidence that non-standard decoding of CUG codons is essential for the viability of C. albicans.     

Comparative genomics of yeast species: new insights into their biology

The genomes of two hemiascomycetous yeasts (Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans) and one archiascomycete (Schizosaccharomyces pombe) have been completely sequenced and the genes have been annotated. In addition, the genomes of 13 more Hemiascomycetes have been partially sequenced. The amount of data thus obtained provides information on the evolutionary relationships between yeast species. In addition, the differential genetic characteristics of the microorganisms explain a number of distinctive biological traits. Gene order conservation is observed between phylogenetically close species and is lost in distantly related species, probably due to rearrangements of short regions of DNA. However, gene function is much more conserved along evolution. Compared to S. cerevisiae and S. pombe, C. albicans has a larger number of specific genes, i.e., genes not found in other organisms, a fact that can account for the biological characteristics of this pathogenic dimorphic yeast which is able to colonize a large variety of environments.     

Molecular cloning and analysis of CDC28 and cyclin homologues from the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans

In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, progress of the cell cycle beyond the major control point in G1 phase, termed START, requires activation of the evolutionarily conserved Cdc28 protein kinase by direct association with GI cyclins. We have used a conditional lethal mutation in CDC28 of S. cerevisiae to clone a functional homologue from the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans. The protein sequence, deduced from the nucleotide sequence, is 79% identical to that of S. cerevisiae Cdc28 and as such is the most closely related protein yet identified. We have also isolated from C. albicans two genes encoding putative G1 cyclins, by their ability to rescue a conditional GI cyclin defect in S. cerevisiae; one of these genes encodes a protein of 697 amino acids and is identical to the product of the previously described CCN1 gene. The second gene codes for a protein of 465 residues, which has significant homology to S. cerevisiae Cln3. These data suggest that the events and regulatory mechanisms operating at START are highly conserved between these two organisms.     

PHO85, a negative regulator of the PHO system, is a homolog of the protein kinase gene, CDC28, of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Summary The product of the PHO85 gene, which encodes one of the negative regulatory factors of the PHO system in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, shows significant amino acid sequence homology with the CDC28 protein kinase. However, overexpressing PHO85 did not suppress the temperature sensitive phenotype of the cdc28-1 mutation. The nucleotide sequence of the PHO85 gene strongly suggests the presence of an intron near the sequence encoding the N-terminal region.     

Glycine oxidation and conversion into amino acids in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans

Humans are exposed much more often to exogenous Saccharomyces cerevisiae (a baker’s yeast) than exogenous Candida albicans (a highly infectious yeast) but suffer no apparent complications from S. cerevisiae. We hypothesize that variations in characteristics between these two species may be due, in part, to differences in glycine metabolism. In this study, we examined differences in glycine oxidation between C. albicans and S. cerevisiae. Both C. albicans and S. cerevisiae were cultured in glycine enriched media, followed by determination of glycine oxidation and amino acid concentrations in cells. Glycine was degraded to a much greater extent in C. albicans than in S. cerevisiae. Threonine concentrations and glycine oxidation were also elevated in C. albicans. Almost all of the disappearance of glycine from incubation media was accounted for by the formation of serine, threonine, and CO₂ in S. cerevisiae, whereas these products represented only 50% of the metabolized glycine in C. albicans. The unidentified metabolites of glycine in C. albicans, presumably purines, could contribute to its infectious capacity and this warrants further study.     

Isolation and nucleotide sequence of an autonomously replicating sequence (ARS) element functional in Candida albicans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Summary An 8.6-kb fragment was isolated from an EcoRI digest of Candida albicans ATCC 10261 genomic DNA which conferred the property of autonomous replication in Saccharomyces cervisiae on the otherwise non-replicative plasmid pMK155 (5.6 kb). The DNA responsible for the replicative function was subcloned as a 1.2-kb fragment onto a non-replicative plasmid (pRC3915) containing the C. albicans URA3 and LEU2 genes to form plasmid pRC3920. This plasmid was capable of autonomous replication in both S. cerevisiae and C. albicans and transformed S. cerevisiae AH22 (leu2 ^–) to Leu⁺ at a frequency of 2.15 × 10³ transformants per pg DNA, and transformed C. albicans SGY-243 (ura3) to Ura⁺ at a frequency of 1.91 × 10³ transformants per g DNA. Sequence analysis of the cloned DNA revealed the presence of two identical regions of eleven base pairs (5TTTTATGTTTT3) which agreed with the consensus of autonomously replicating sequence (ARS) cores functional in S. cerevisiae. In addition there were two 10/11 and numerous 9/11 matches to the core consensus. The two 11/11 matches to the consensus, CaARS1 and CaARS2, were located on opposite strands in a non-coding AT-rich region and were separated by 107 bp. Also present on the C. albicans DNA, 538 by from the ARS cores, was a gene for 5S rRNA which showed sequence homology with several other yeast 5S rRNA genes. A sub-fragment (494 bp) containing the 5S rRNA gene (but not the region containing the ARS cores) hybridized to genomic DNAs from a number of yeast species, including S. cerevisiae, C. tropicalis, C. pseudotropicalis, C. parapsilosis, C. kruseii, C. (Torulopsis) glabrata and Neurospora crassa. The 709-bp ARS element (but not the 5S rRNA gene) was necessary for high-frequency transformation and autonomous plasmid replication in both S. cerevisiae and C. albicans.EMBL/GenBank database accession number: X16634 (5S rRNA)     

Isolation of genes from Candida albicans by complementation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Summary A genomic library of the asexual pathogenic yeast Candida albicans was constructed in the S. cerevisiae vector YEp13. The library contains a representation of the entire genome with a probability of 99%. The expression of the genes of C. albicans in S. cerevisiae was examined and two mutations his3-1 and trp1-289 of S. cerevisiae were complemented by the cloned genes of C. albicans. The hybridization data indicates that the plasmids complementing the mutations of S. cerevisiae contain sequences from C. albicans.     

Evolution of the alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) genes in yeast: characterization of a fourth ADH in Kluyveromyces lactis

Summary Three alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) genes have recently been characterized in the yeast Kluyveromyces lactis. We report on a fourth ADH in K. lactis (KADH II: KADH2 gene) which is highly similar to other ADHs in K. lactis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. KADH II appears to be a cytoplasmic enzyme, and after expression of KADH2 in S. cerevisiae enzyme activity comigrated with a K. lactis ADH present in cells grown in glucose or in ethanol. KADH I was also expressed in S. cerevisiae and it comigrated with a major ADH species expressed under glucose growth conditions in K. lactis. The substrate specificities for KADH I and KADH II were shown to be more similar to that of SADH II than to SADH I. SADH I cannot efficiently utilize long chain alcohols, in contrast to other cytoplasmic yeast ADHs, presumably because of the presence of a methionine (residue 271) in its substrate binding cleft. A comparison of the DNA sequences of ADHs among K. lactis, S. cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe suggests that the ancestral yeast species contained one cytoplasmic ADH. After divergence from S. pombe, the ADH in the ancestor to K. lactis and S. cerevisiae was duplicated, and one ADH became localized to the mitochondrion, presumably for the oxidative use of ethanol. Following the speciation of S. cerevisiae and K. lactis, the gene encoding the cytoplasmic ADH in S. cerevisiae duplicated, which resulted in the development of the SADH II protein as the primary oxidative enzyme in place of SADH III. In contrast, the K. lactis mitochondrial ADH duplicated to give rise to the highly expressed KADH3 and KADH4 genes, both of which may still play primary roles in oxidative metabolism. These data suggest that K. lactis and S. cerevisiae use different compartments for their metabolism of ethanol. Our results also indicate that the complex regulatory circuits controlling the glucose-repressible SADH2 in S. cerevisiae are a recent acquisition from regulatory networks used for the control of genes other than SADH2.

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URA3基因影响青蒿酸酿酒酵母工程菌中试发酵产量

CRISPR/Cas9基因编辑技术已经被广泛应用于工程酿酒酵母的基因插入、基因替换和基因敲除,通过使用选择标记进行基因编辑具有简单高效的特点。前期利用CRISPR/Cas9系统敲除青蒿酸生产菌株酿酒酵母(Saccharomyces cerevisiae) 1211半乳糖代谢负调控基因GAL80,获得菌株S. cerevisiae 1211-2,在不添加半乳糖诱导的情况下,青蒿酸摇瓶发酵产量达到了740 mg/L。但在50 L中试发酵实验中,S. cerevisiae 1211-2很难利用对青蒿酸积累起到决定性作用的碳源-乙醇,青蒿酸的产量仅为亲本菌株S.cerevisiae 1211的20%–25%。我们推测因遗传操作所需的筛选标记URA3突变,影响了其生长及青蒿酸产量。随后我们使用重组质粒pML104-KanMx4-u连同90 bp供体DNA成功恢复了URA3基因,获得了工程菌株S. cerevisiae 1211-3。S. cerevisiae 1211-3能够在葡萄糖和乙醇分批补料的发酵罐中正常生长,其青蒿酸产量超过20g/L,与亲本菌株产量相当。研究不但获得了不加半乳糖诱导的青...     

TheCBP2 gene fromSaccharomyces douglasii is a functional homologue of theSaccharomyces cerevisiae gene and is essential for respiratory growth in the presence of a wild-type (intron-containing) mitochondrial genome

InSaccharomyces cerevisiae the only known role of theCBP2 gene is the excision of the fifth intron of the mitochondrialcyt b gene (bI5). We have cloned theCBP2 gene fromSaccharomyces douglasii (a close relative ofS. cerevisiae). A comparison of theS. douglasii andS. cerevisiae sequences shows that there are 14% nucleotide substitutions in the coding region, with transitions being three times more frequent than transversions. At the protein level sequence identity is 87%. We have demonstrated that theS. douglasii CBP2 gene is essential for respiratory growth in the presence of a wild-typeS. douglasii mitochondrial genome, but not in the presence of an intronlessS. cerevisiae mitochondrial genome. Also theS. douglasii andS. cerevisiae CBP2 genes are completely interchangeable, even though the intron bI5 is absent from theS. douglasii mitochondrial genome.     

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae genes ( CMP1 and CMP2 ) encoding calmodulin-binding proteins homologous to the catalytic subunit of mammalian protein phosphatase 2B

Summary Saccharomyces cerevisiae genomic clones that encode calmodulin-binding proteins were isolated by screening a λgt11 expression library using¹²⁵I-labeled calmodulin as probe. Among the cloned yeast genes, we found two closely related genes (CMP1 andCMP2) that encode proteins homologous to the catalytic subunit of phosphoprotein phosphatase. The presumed CMP1 protein (62999 Da) and CMP2 protein (68496 Da) contain a 23 amino acid sequence very similar to those identified as calmodulin-binding sites in many calmodulin-regulated proteins. The yeast genes encode proteins especially homologous to the catalytic subunit of mammalian phosphoprotein phosphatase type 213 (calcineurin). The products of theCMP1 andCMP2 genes were identified by immunoblot analysis of cell extracts as proteins of 62000 and 64000 Da, respectively. Gene disruption experiments demonstrated that elimination of either or both of these genes had no effect on cell viability, indicating that these genes are not essential for normal cell growth.     

CDC7 protein kinase activity is required for mitosis and meiosis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Summary The product of the CDC7 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae has multiple cellular functions, being needed for the initiation of DNA synthesis during mitosis as well as for synaptonemal complex formation and commitment to recombination during meiosis. The CDC7 protein has protein kinase activity and contains the conserved residues characteristic of the protein kinase catalytic domain. To determine which of the cellular functions of CDC7 require this protein kinase activity, we have mutated some of the conserved residues within the CDC7 catalytic domain and have examined the ability of the mutant proteins to support mitosis and meiosis. The results indicate that the protein kinase activity of the CDC7 gene product is essential for its function in both mitosis and meiosis and that this activity is potentially regulated by phosphorylation of the CDC7 protein.     

Characterization of a staurosporine- and temperature-sensitive mutant, stt1, of Saccharomyces cerevisiae: STT1 is allelic to PKC1

Summary Staurosporine is an antibiotic that specifically inhibits protein kinase C. Fourteen staurosporine- and temperature-sensitive (stt) mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae were isolated and characterized. These mutants were divided into ten complementation groups, and characterized for their cross-sensitivity to K-252a, neomycin, or CaCl₂, The STT1 gene was cloned and sequenced. The nucleotide sequence of the STT1 gene revealed that STT1 is the same gene as PKC1. The STT1 gene conferred resistance to staurosporine on wild-type cells, when present on a high copy number plasmid. STT1/stt1::HIS3 diploid cells were more sensitive to staurosporine than STT1/STT1 diploid cells. Analysis of temperature-sensitive stt1 mutants showed that the STT1 gene product functioned in S or G2/M phase. These results suggest that a protein kinase (the STT1 gene product) is one of the essential targets of staurosporine in yeast cells.