title: Control of filament formation in Candida albicans by the transcriptional repressor TUP1.
abstract: The pathogenic yeast Candida albicans regulates its cellular morphology in response to environmental conditions. Ellipsoidal, single cells (blastospores) predominate in rich media, whereas filaments composed of elongated cells that are attached end-to-end form in response to starvation, serum, and other conditions. The TUP1 gene, which encodes a general transcriptional repressor in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, was isolated from C. albicans and disrupted. The resulting tup1 mutant strain of C. albicans grew exclusively as filaments under all conditions tested. TUP1 was epistatic to the transcriptional activator CPH1, previously found to promote filamentous growth. The results suggest a model where TUP1 represses genes responsible for initiating filamentous growth and this repression is lifted under inducing environmental conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94143-0414, USA.
authors.forename: B R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Braun
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000166:cytology* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003470:Culture Media; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D004843:Epistasis, Genetic; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D017353:Gene Deletion; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D005990:Glycerol / Q000378:metabolism; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D010641:Phenotype; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013696:Temperature; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: C090837:CPH1 protein, Candida albicans; D003470:Culture Media; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; C066502:TUP1 protein, S cerevisiae; D014157:Transcription Factors; D005990:Glycerol