title: Candida albicans VPS11 is required for vacuole biogenesis and germ tube formation.
abstract: The Candida albicans vacuole has previously been observed to undergo rapid expansion during the emergence of a germ tube from a yeast cell, to occupy the majority of the parent yeast cell. Furthermore, the yeast-to-hypha switch has been implicated in the virulence of this organism. The class C vps (vacuolar protein sorting) mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae are defective in multiple protein delivery pathways to the vacuole and prevacuole compartment. In this study C. albicans homologues of the S. cerevisiae class C VPS genes have been identified. Deletion of a C. albicans VPS11 homologue resulted in a number of phenotypes that closely resemble those of the class C vps mutants of S. cerevisiae, including the absence of a vacuolar compartment. The C. albicans vps11Delta mutant also had much-reduced secreted lipase and aspartyl protease activities. Furthermore, vps11Delta strains were defective in yeast-hypha morphogenesis. Upon serum induction of filamentous growth, mutants showed delayed emergence of germ tubes, had a reduced apical extension rate compared to those of control strains, and were unable to form mature hyphae. These results suggest that Vps11p-mediated trafficking steps are necessary to support the rapid emergence and extension of the germ tube from the parent yeast cell.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom. gpalme@lsuhsc.edu
authors.forename: Glen E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Palmer
authors.forename: Annette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cashmore
authors.forename: Joy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sturtevant
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology*; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017353:Gene Deletion; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D025301:Hyphae / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D008049:Lipase / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009024:Morphogenesis; D016296:Mutagenesis; D009994:Osmolar Concentration; D010641:Phenotype; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors; D014617:Vacuoles / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D008049:Lipase