« Previous AbstractEnvironment-induced same-sex mating in the yeast Candida albicans through the Hsf1-Hsp90 pathway    Next AbstractERK1/2 regulates heat stress-induced lactate production via enhancing the expression of HSP70 in immature boar Sertoli cells »

Nat Commun

Title:		Glucose depletion enables Candida albicans mating independently of the epigenetic white-opaque switch
Author(s):		Guan G; Tao L; Li C; Xu M; Liu L; Bennett RJ; Huang G;
Address:		"Department of Infectious Diseases, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Biosafety Emergency Response, National Medical Center for Infectious Diseases, Huashan Hospital, Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity and State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China. State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China. Molecular Microbiology and Immunology Department, Brown University, Providence, RI, 02912, USA. Department of Infectious Diseases, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Biosafety Emergency Response, National Medical Center for Infectious Diseases, Huashan Hospital, Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity and State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China. huanggh@fudan.edu.cn. Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Industrial Microorganisms, Shanghai, 200438, China. huanggh@fudan.edu.cn. Shanghai Huashen Institute of Microbes and Infections, Shanghai, 200052, China. huanggh@fudan.edu.cn"
Journal Title:		Nat Commun
Year:		2023
Volume:		20230412
Issue:		1
Page Number:		2067 -
DOI:		10.1038/s41467-023-37755-8
ISSN/ISBN:		2041-1723 (Electronic) 2041-1723 (Linking)
Abstract:		"The human fungal pathogen Candida albicans can switch stochastically and heritably between a 'white' phase and an 'opaque' phase. Opaque cells are the mating-competent form of the species, whereas white cells are thought to be essentially 'sterile'. Here, we report that glucose depletion, a common nutrient stress, enables C. albicans white cells to undergo efficient sexual mating. The relative expression levels of pheromone-sensing and mating-associated genes (including STE2/3, MFA1, MFalpha1, FIG1, FUS1, and CEK1/2) are increased under glucose depletion conditions, while expression of mating repressors TEC1 and DIG1 is decreased. Cph1 and Tec1, factors that act downstream of the pheromone MAPK pathway, play opposite roles in regulating white cell mating as TEC1 deletion or CPH1 overexpression promotes white cell mating. Moreover, inactivation of the Cph1 repressor Dig1 increases white cell mating ~4000 fold in glucose-depleted medium relative to that in the presence of glucose. Our findings reveal that the white-to-opaque epigenetic switch may not be a prerequisite for sexual mating in C. albicans in nature"
Keywords:		"Humans *Candida albicans/metabolism *Fungal Proteins/genetics/metabolism Reproduction/physiology Pheromones/genetics/metabolism Epigenesis, Genetic Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal Genes, Mating Type, Fungal/genetics;"
Notes:		"MedlineGuan, Guobo Tao, Li Li, Chao Xu, Ming Liu, Ling Bennett, Richard J Huang, Guanghua eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2023/04/13 Nat Commun. 2023 Apr 12; 14(1):2067. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-37755-8"